Disaster Discussions Podcast

Disasters impact more than buildings- they affect entire communities. Recovery happens faster when homes, businesses, and local economies are rebuilt with resilience in mind. In this episode of Disaster Discussions , Chris Stallings of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Michael Newman of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) discuss how disaster assistance and...

The January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires exposed just how vulnerable neighborhoods become once wildfire enters the built environment. In this episode of Disaster Discussions , IBHS researcher Dr. Xareni Sanchez Monroy breaks down the findings from The 2025 LA Conflagrations report- from the critical role structure spacing and wind direction played in determining which homes survived, to how vege...

What does it take to transform science experiments into a nationwide movement for stronger homes? In this episode of Disaster Discussions , host Rachael Penton Gauthier sits down with Fred Malik, Managing Director of FORTIFIED, to continue the conversation around the program’s milestone of 100,000 designations. Fred reflects on how IBHS reached this moment- from the early days of the program to wh...

What does it take to transform science experiments into a nationwide movement for stronger homes? In this episode of Disaster Discussions , host Rachael Penton Gauthier sits down with Cliff Barros and Alex Cary- two IBHS FORTIFIED team members who have been part of the program's journey from its earliest days on the Alabama Gulf Coast to it's expansion into more than 30 states. Together, they refl...

In Part 2 of The Workforce Behind the Recovery , we continue our conversation on the growing skilled labor shortage impacting the construction industry- in both everyday projects and after major disasters. Host Rachael Gauthier sits down with IBHS Director of Construction Shawn Macomber to explore his journey from rebuilding homes after Hurricane Katrina to becoming a leader in resilient construct...

In Part 1 of The Workforce Behind the Recovery , we examine a growing challenge facing communities nationwide: the shortage of skilled labor slowing disaster recovery efforts. Host Rachael Gauthier is joined by Courtney Jenkins and Sean Vissar of The Home Depot Foundation to dive into new research they've conducted that reveals how widespread and urgent this issue has become. From wildfire-impacte...

When winter hits the South, the impacts can be historic- and deeply disruptive. In this On the Radar episode of Disaster Discussions, host Rachael Penton Gauthier is joined by IBHS Managing Director of Atmospheric Research Dr. Ian Giammanco and Mississippi Live Weather Chief Meteorologist Matt Laubhan to break down a late‑January winter storm that delivered record snow, destructive ice, and danger...

In Part 1 of A New Revolution: How AI is Transforming Disaster Resilience , host Rachael Penton Gauthier sat down with IBHS Director of AI Research Dr. Hesam Fallahian to trace the sweeping history of artificial intelligence—from its roots in science fiction and pop culture to its emergence as a real-world force reshaping how humans live and work. The episode explored the major technological revol...

Artificial intelligence isn’t just the next big tech trend—it’s the newest revolution reshaping how we understand, prepare for, and respond to disasters. In this two‑part episode of Disaster Discussions , we trace AI’s evolution from science fiction and pop‑culture icon to a real‑world force transforming weather forecasting, insurance, and community resilience. Host Rachael Gauthier sits down with...

As we wrap up another year of Disaster Discussions, we’re taking a moment to look back at the conversations that shaped 2025. From wildfire resilience and severe weather preparedness to the latest research on building standards, this season brought together experts and stories that matter for safer communities. Join us as we revisit key insights, highlight memorable moments, and celebrate the gues...

In this episode of Disaster Discussions, we journey to the heart of tornado alley—to Oklahoma, where tornadoes and hailstorms are a way of life and homeowners face some of the highest insurance rates in the nation. This episode explores how the FORTIFIED Roof program and the Strengthen Oklahoma Homes initiative are transforming resilience, offering grants and insurance discounts to help families w...

Today, nearly 50 million Americans live in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)—zones where wildfire meets suburbia, and ordinary wildfires can escalate into full-blown conflagrations. In these extreme events, homes and their contents become fuel, driving structure-to-structure fire spread and releasing a toxic mix of chemicals far more hazardous than those from natural biomass burns. Heavy metals,...

Wildland-Urban Interface fires are among the most destructive wildfire events, transforming into conflagration scenarios that result in catastrophic losses of homes, infrastructure, and lives. This episode of Disaster Discussions dives into cutting-edge work with research partners at UC Berkeley based on findings from the IBHS Structure-to-Structure Fire Spread experiment. The discussion focuses o...

In this episode of  Disaster Discussions , host Rachael Penton Gauthier explores KB Home’s groundbreaking Dixon Trail development in Escondido, CA—the first neighborhood in the U.S. to receive a provisional Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood™ designation, with every home in the development constructed to the Wildfire Prepared Home Plus level-IBHS's most rigorous wildfire resilience standard. KB H...

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 highe...

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 afte...

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 an...

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 an...

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...

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 im...

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...

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 Le...

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,...

In this episode of Disaster Discussions host Rachael Penton Gauthier is joined by Dr. Murray Morrison, IBHS Managing Director of Research and Steve Hawks, Senior Director for Wildfire. Part 1 of this discussion details the extreme meteorological conditions that allowed several wildfires to spark in early January in LA county, and details the conditions that allowed the Eaton and Palisades fires to...