![]() ![]() ![]() Houston said the data will be useful for state agencies like the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency and the Missouri DCI as they work to encourage residents to be better prepared for disasters. While the report focuses specifically on earthquake insurance coverage protection, or lack thereof, in the New Madrid region of Missouri, the project provided the first viable opportunity for the DCC to collect data about the state of emergency and disaster preparedness among residents living in that region. Therefore, we learned that by getting people to talk more about the earthquake risk in the area, and by helping them get more connected with friends, family and insurance agents, we can help move a culture of earthquake preparedness forward in the area." ![]() "We also found a lot of people didn't know what actions they could take, such as having earthquake insurance. "We found people living in that area of Missouri didn't know about the earthquake risk as much as we would expect," Houston said. The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI) also contributed to the report. Houston, who is also a professor and chair of the Department of Communication and the Department of Public Health at MU, recently co-authored a report in collaboration with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) that identifies a gap in earthquake insurance among the residents of the New Madrid region of Missouri, which includes the Missouri Bootheel. The NMSZ spans more than 100 miles in length, and includes parts of several states-Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. Now, Houston and a team of researchers at MU have found a lack of general awareness about the NMSZ and a knowledge gap about earthquake awareness among people living in the New Madrid region of Missouri. Since we work in disaster planning and response, the issue of how states can help get people prepared often comes up." "We're overdue for another one, and models have predicted that if a large earthquake occurred now, it could be a catastrophic, multi-billion-dollar event for the region. "Geologists have been forecasting when another one of these large earthquakes could occur in the NMSZ," he said. That lack of preparedness could exacerbate damages for those residents in the event of a large earthquake, said Brian Houston, director of the MU Disaster and Community Crisis Center (DCC). ![]()
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