August 14, 2017
What the 3 Little Pigs Teach Us
by John Siegman
While no one provides Wolf-Based Wind Scores, scores now exist on almost every other bad thing that can happen to your home or business.
The three most famous houses for risk exposure are the one made of straw, the one made of sticks and the one made of bricks — occupied by our friends, the three little pigs.
These three houses face extreme local straight-line wind exposure courtesy of the Big Bad Wolf. The key lesson taught by this fable is that the better prepared you are for risk exposure, the more likely it is that you’ll come out on the bright side after the risk has passed. Unfortunately, we see every day that some children and many adults did not heed this moral.
While no one provides Wolf-Based Wind Scores (WolfHubTM), it is now possible to find risk scores on just about every other bad thing that can happen to your home or business. We are strong believers in the power of mitigation. After all, many times you can’t just up and move from your location. But to know what to mitigate for, you have to understand the risk around you.
Like the first two little pigs, most people don’t understand the risks around their property, and let’s not overly reward the third little pig. While he certainly did mitigate for Wolf-Based Wind, building his house near a forest potentially exposed him to wildfire. Seeing that he was planning on farming, there had to be a body of water nearby for irrigation, exposing his house to flooding, as well. Lack of knowledge is the leading cause of hazard loss.
See also: 4 Steps to Integrate Risk Management
That’s why we provide www.freehomerisk.com. So anyone in the U.S. can get a better understanding of the hazards that affect their property. For example, this address in Miami, 701 South Miami Ave., returns a risk identification report like this:
All of the hazards lit up in green are hazards that are applicable to that specific address. Not every address will have every hazard, as hazards are regional in nature. For example, Florida sinkholes only happen in Florida, while tsunamis only happen to places with exposure to the Pacific Ocean. Once you’ve identified the risk types to be aware of you, can investigate further by getting the Risk Exposure Report Card, with grades specific to the address.
For 701 South Miami Ave., Miami, the Risk Exposure Report Card looks like this:
As you can see, at this address you (and the three little pigs) have a lot more to be concerned about than just Wolf-Based Wind.