By Frank Corder, Magnolia Tribune
Commissioner Mike Chaney at the Commissioner’s Roundtable this morning during the NAIC Summer National Meeting in Chicago, August 2024 (Photo from MID on Facebook)
Mississippi is hosting a Disaster Leadership Conference this week as attendees seek to explore how local, state, and federal agencies can better work together when delivering quick, effective assistance in their communities.
The event, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, is being put on by the Departments of Insurance from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, in partnership with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
The conference is intended to be interactive and informative as leaders from across the South come together to strengthen the connection between local officials, emergency managers, the insurance industry, and state and federal agencies.
Event sessions will focus on how to assess, plan, and prepare for disaster events using proven tools and resources as well as explore risk management strategies that increase community resilience. Attendees will review best practices for disaster communication that save lives and reduce damage and gain insights into programs that help build more resilient properties and communities.
In addition, the conference will focus on understanding how damage assessments and recovery efforts can be improved through interagency collaboration while hearing firsthand from officials who have led their communities through disasters.
Speakers at the Coast conference include Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, MID’s Director of Property and Casualty Rating Andy Case, Senior Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Moody’s Matthew Nielsen, and Commissioners of Insurance for Alabama and Louisiana Mark Fowler and Tim Temple, respectively, among others.
A local government panel is being held at the conference where Mississippi Mayors Will Hill of Louisville and Chip Johnson of Hernando will join Orange Beach, Florida Mayor Tony Kennon to discuss first-hand accounts, key lessons learned, and information they wish they would have had when shepherding their communities through a natural catastrophe experience.