Aon Flux: Firm marks risky sites
Insurance broker warned New Orleans shoots to stop
That's where Chris Palmer comes in.
He's the risk control director for entertainment insurance broker Alfred G. Ruben, a subsidiary of Aon.
Palmer designs contingency plans to appease insurance companies.
On Aug. 24, five days before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Aon predicted a Category 5 that would strike near New Orleans.
"I was advising clients on Wednesday and Thursday to start their plan and be ready to get out. On Friday it was, 'We want to see the last tail light out of there by lunchtime on Saturday when the mandatory evacuation is called.'"
Everyone got out safely and ahead of the traffic jams Aug. 28.
Now, he says his clients are "a little shell-shocked" but grateful his plans were in place.
Aon's risk control program extends to a world map rating countries by riskiness for filmmaking.
Risk rankings consider disease, kidnap and ransom, crime and corruption.
The U.S. is classified as a "moderate risk" zone by Aon, the second-lowest risk rating. The same assessment goes to China, Australia, the U.K. and most of western Europe.
For anyone feeling skittish, only a few countries are rated "low risk": New Zealand, Canada, Denmark (including Greenland), Scandinavia and Iceland.
"You can be very very safe, but you'll be very very cold," laughs Palmer.
