Ren Re Says Let Risk Mitigation Entertain You

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. said it plans to make risk mitigation so entertaining that amusement park customers will pay to learn about it.

The Bermuda-based reinsurer said it is involved with setting up an attraction at Epcot Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., aimed at educating the public about bad weather and how to protect homes against it.

Along with its U.S. affiliate, WeatherPredict Consulting Inc., Renaissance Re said it has gone into partnership with the non-profit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes Inc. (FLASH), State Farm and Simpson Strong-Tie to get the attraction set for a late summer opening.

Renaissance Re said the amusement, located in Innovations at Epcot, will be called “StormStruck: The Tale of Two Homes.”

The company said “StormStruck” will have special effects simulating a hurricane, and an educational component that will raise awareness about the latest risk mitigation research and recommendations.

According to Renaissance Re, the amusement will combine the experience of what it feels like to be in severe weather with learning about the associated risks and ways to protect the home in an interactive and entertaining setting.

“Understanding severe atmospheric hazards and vulnerability has been central to our business since our founding,” said Neill Currie, chief executive officer of RenaissanceRe, explaining the firm's involvement in the project.

“It has been a natural extension of our philosophy, over time, to increase our focus on developing loss-mitigation technologies, not only to reduce the severity of the financial impact of storms on our clients, but ultimately to enable people to make themselves, their families and their businesses safer,” he added.

The StormStruck experience, he said, will “share important information on how to protect communities from severe weather storms.”

StormStruck will be the second weather event attraction in the Orlando area.

Universal Studios Florida theme park operates Twister, which promises to make customers feel what it's like to look a tornado “right in the eye,” with special effects that recreate the explosive force of nature at its worst, including a “piercing sound system runs at 110 decibels.”

“A critical component of minimizing both loss of life and property damage in a hurricane is to better understand the impact of these storms on our buildings,” said Craig Tillman, president of WeatherPredict Consulting Inc.

He said RenaissanceRe has led by example with the launch last year of the RenaissanceRe “Wall of Wind” facility in Florida, which tests buildings and their components by generating hurricane-force wind and rain.

RenaissanceRe said it is also working with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania on economic analyses of various risk mitigation techniques.