Communities Save Money and Lives With Disaster Preparedness

Roger Coleman, a New York-based entrepreneur, serves as president and chief strategy officer of Disaster Technologies Incorporated, which he co-founded. In this capacity, Roger Coleman supports the New York company’s mission of supplying decision-support technologies to help communities save lives and money by getting prepared to respond to natural disasters.

According to updated findings from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2019 Report from Colorado University Boulder, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, communities can achieve significant cost savings through preparedness efforts. For example, up to $11 can be saved for every dollar they invest in simply meeting or exceeding building codes. Communities can also save $4 for every $1 spent on improving utility systems, railroads, and highways, along with a similar mount for measures to protect from wildfires.

Saving money isn’t the only benefit of disaster preparedness, of course. Preparedness also saves lives, and training is critical. The Finnish Red Cross has been teaching winter readiness exercises to residents since 2013, and a simulation exercise in response to flooding was implemented by the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan. Different countries’ coordinated responses to terrorist attacks and other disasters also demonstrate the importance of preparedness.