This episode of the Disaster Podcast featured a discussion about resilience and preparedness with guest Jake Sorber from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Jake explained IBHS's research on severe weather hazards, particularly focusing on hail damage and wind-driven hail, which can cause significant additional damage to homes. He described IBHS's unique ability to manufacture scientific ice spheres to accurately test building materials' resistance to hail impacts.

Sonnet Daymont, clinical therapist, joins the show this week with a look at the treatment and management of mental health trauma in both victims and responders following a major event. Her experiences following devastating wild fires in the Los Angeles area in January of 2025 help her define the needs of individuals in the short and long term.

The Disaster Podcast hosted Ben Gilliland from Future Proof Property Intelligence to discuss his company's AI-powered solution for assessing and mitigating climate-related risks to homes. Ben explained how their technology uses smartphone video scans, NVIDIA AI, and IBM climate data to create 3D models of properties, identify risk factors, and provide remediation plans and cost estimates. The discussion covered how their system addresses the mismatch between rising weather risks and shrinking insurance options, with an average cost of $10,000-$40,000 for home remediation.

The Disaster Podcast's Dr. Joe Holley has been busy over the last month and a half traveling to conferences and training scenarios. In this episode, we talk with Joe about his recent travels to get his take aways from these events and what he sees in the near future for disaster responders. Also on the show were disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin and our disaster meteorologist Dan DePodwin.

The Winter X-Games are back! Disaster Podcast OG meteorologist, Kyle Nelson, comes on the show to discuss his work with the 2026 Winter X-Games in his capacity as a leader in the Pitkin County, Colorado Incident Management Team (IMT). The IMT helps to prepare for and run emergency services response to the X-Games.

This week on the Disaster Podcast we chat with Seamus Leary ,MPA, CEM about leading through catastrophe: when systems fail. He is President of Meridian Strategic Services, Inc. and is an emergency management expert who worked at the state and local levels and later with FEMA at the Federal level.

Helen Hynson Vettori (https://www.helenhynsonvettori.com/) is a former EMT/paramedic and retired senior medical intelligence analyst at the Department of Homeland Security. We have her on the show to share her insights and the two sci-fi thriller novels she wrote based on her experiences. Helen channeled her real-world emergency response and pandemic-planning experience into her sci-fi disaster thriller series, beginning with Black Swan Impact and followed by Black Swan Shock. A “Black Swan” event is a term used to describe a catastrophic incident that no one could have foreseen or imagined because of its unprecedented impact.

We delve into the recent surge of Influenza cases across large swaths of the United States in recent weeks. This year is shaping up to be a particularly difficult year for health care facilities and the patients who need them for treatment. Dr. Joe Holley joins us today to discuss what he's seeing in the Memphis, Tennessee area and what the national flu outlook is.

We gather our podcast regulars for a look at the past year on the show with our 2025 Disaster Podcast year in review. Dr. Joe Holley joined co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis for this episode. Kyle Nelson, Becky DePodwin, and Dan DePodwin sent in their top episode picks by email.

Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions comes back for a final look at Head-Up CPR as we pull all the pieces from the earlier four episodes together. Dr. Joe Holley is back to bring in the latest research into the process as well. We will tie all this back to the global health disaster that is sudden cardiac arrest.