Insurance industry to gain new insight on the risks of hailstorms
The insurance industry may not be able to control the weather, but it does have the capability to replicate some natural disasters in order to better understand their impact on property. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, an organization devoted to researching the risks associated with natural disasters, has created a full-scale hailstorm inside of its laboratory located in South Carolina. Creating the hailstorm is part of the organization’s ongoing effort to understand the effects of natural disasters and promote better construction practices for homes and businesses.
Hailstorms cause $1 billion in damage annually
The insurance industry has long been attuned to the risks associated with natural disasters. Risk modeling organizations regularly supply the insurance industry with data that helps price policies and mitigate exposure to the complications of powerful natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, hailstorms cause approximately $1 billion in damage to property in the U.S. alone.
Scientists create indoor hailstorm
Within the Institute’s South Carolina laboratory, scientists created hail using a special mixture of seltzer and tap water. Scientist have spent months perfecting this formula in order to ensure that the hail it creates is as realistic as possible. Inside of the laboratory, engineers build a simple house using a mixture of materials and methods that are meant to understand the damage hail can cause to a home. A vehicle was also on-site in order to examine the damage caused by the manufactured hailstorm.
Tests may help insurers mitigate risks concerning natural disasters
These types of tests are not entirely new for the insurance industry. Risk modeling agencies regularly conduct tests such as these to provide insurers with better risk models. Many of these tests focus on ways to mitigate the damage that can be caused by catastrophes. Such mitigation can limit the losses experienced by the insurance industry and provide consumers with a certain level of protection from disasters like hailstorms.
