Towards effective mitigation strategies for severe wind events

The need to mitigate the losses from severe wind events in Australia has been highlighted repeatedly over the last decade, paralleling that of the hurricane-prone south east United States of America. The Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce final report released in 2015 [see Related URLs], along with numerous other studies and reports, emphasised that mitigation is the only rational solution to reducing loss and improving the current insurance affordability situation. Engineering solutions exist to prevent failures, however post-event observations highlight their lack of implementation. It follows that the current level of community engagement in mitigation activities in cyclone-prone regions of Australia must be improved if losses are to be reduced. This paper discusses issues of engagement and reviews literature and existing mitigation programs as background for a smartphone mitigation tool being developed in Queensland, Australia, and Florida, USA