What happens when a storm meets smart construction choices? Mark Fowler from the Alabama Department of Insurance and Dr. Lawrence Powell from the University of Alabama's Center for Risk and Insurance Research join Disaster Discussions to unpack a groundbreaking new report on IBHS FORTIFIED Home construction performance during Hurricane Sally- a strong category two storm that struck the highest concentration of FORTIFIED homes in the nation. This episode dives into how homes built or retrofitted to FORTIFIED standards significantly outperformed both traditional construction homes and those built to municipal building codes—sustaining less damage and saving homeowners and insurers millions of dollars.

It's been 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005, bringing wind and record storm surge to areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Stormchaser Josh Morgerman- also known as iCyclone- joins the podcast for a discussion about the record storm surge coastal Mississippi experienced during Katrina, sometimes referred to as the "Forgotten Coast" in the months after the storm. We also discuss the cultural and economic toll the storm caused, and what the recovery looks like two decades later. Plus, Josh discusses his FORTIFIED "Hurricane House" that he has made home on the Mississippi coast, and he takes us around the world to discuss his cyclone chasing adventures.

Every summer IBHS welcomes a diverse and talented group of interns and fellows from across the country to work closely with our world-class engineers, scientists, and communications professionals. The scope of their projects is wide- assisting with full-scale research, developing state of the art instrumentation and electrical solutions, running lab equipment to conduct research, designing and constructing building systems, and much more. Most of the participants are students studying IT, engineering, meteorology, or communications in some form- spanning from undergraduates to postdocs. Some of these students even return to IBHS later in their careers. We learn more about these interns and fellows and what they learned this summer at IBHS in a two-part special.

Every summer IBHS welcomes a diverse and talented group of interns and fellows from across the country to work closely with our world-class engineers, scientists, and communications professionals. The scope of their projects is wide- assisting with full-scale research, developing state of the art instrumentation and electrical solutions, running lab equipment to conduct research, designing and constructing building systems, and much more. Most of the participants are students studying IT, engineering, meteorology, or communications in some form- spanning from undergraduates to postdocs. Some of these students even return to IBHS later in their careers. We learn more about these interns and fellows and what they learned this summer at IBHS in a two-part special.

The In-Situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains (ICECHIP) wraps up after 6 weeks of scientific storm chasing in pursuit of hail-producing thunderstorms. In this episode, we discuss the project's success in the field, highlight valuable partnerships formed during the project, and hear some of the early insights surrounding the data collected. Plus, looking ahead to how ICECHIP scientists will use this data to better understand hailstorms.

In this episode of Disaster Discusssions host Rachael Penton Gauthier sits down with Geotrek's Dr. "Hurricane Hal" Needham to discuss his three-step process for disaster risk assessment that includes the importance of knowing the deep disaster history of a location, identifying the possible risks in a particular neighborhood or region, and understanding how shifts from environmental changes can impact the potential for extreme weather. Plus, how this knowledge can be used to empower communities to better understand their vulnerabilities to natural disasters.

6 weeks, 15 institutions, 4 international partners, and as many hailstorms as possible- that's the mission of the In-situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains (ICECHIP). In this episode of Disaster Discussions we hear from some of the scientists involved in the historic project as it kicks off in Boulder, Colorado.

In this episode of Disaster Discussions Research Project Scientist Jake Sorber joins the podcast for a discussion on why hail is an extreme loss driver across the United States, and the reasons behind why that trend is growing. Plus, an in-depth conversation about lessons learned from a case study of significant hail that fell in Rock Hill, SC and a look ahead to what IBHS scientists are aiming to learn during ICECHIP- the largest scientific field campaign since the 70s devoted to studying hail.

This Disaster Discussions episode highlights the development of the new Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood technical standard- the first and only science-based standard that aims to meaningfully reduce the probability of a built-environment conflagration in the neighborhoods where it is applied. Guests on this episode are Dr. Ian Giammanco, IBHS Managing Director of Standards and Data Analytics and Lead Research Meteorologist and Evan Sluder, Research Project Engineer.

The conversation includes an explanation of the science behind the standard's four core principles and details how the standard can be applied in both new-build and retrofit scenarios. The episode also covers how the standard can be used in a post-wildfire setting to analyze a neighborhood's risk factors for conflagration. Plus, a discussion on the first project putting the standard into operation in Escondido, CA and how the science could be used to rebuild more resiliently in LA county.

In this episode of Disaster Discussions we're joined by Dr. Geoff Boughton, Adjunct Associate Professor at the James Cook University Cyclone Testing Station and Dr. Korah Parackal, IBHS Research Engineer and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the James Cook University Cyclone Testing Station. This discussion looks back at the evolution and landfall of category four Cyclone Tracy that struck Darwin, Australia on Christmas Eve 1974, leaving 90% of the town's residential homes uninhabitable and tens of thousands of residents homeless. We discuss how Tracy's devastating impact sparked changes to the way Australia's housing was built, and how these changes eventually led to a nationwide building code. Today homes in Australia are structurally engineered to withstand high winds throughout the entire country and include provisions for low cycle fatigue, a continuous load path or tie-down chain, and are designed for high internal pressures.