The U.S. Gulf Coast is a region of the world where violent storms are not just expected, they are virtually guaranteed. During the 2008 hurricane season, Aon's Rapid Response teams mobilized five times as storms swept toward the coastline.

According to Arnie Mascali, managing director of Aon Global Risk Consulting's Rapid Response unit, being prepared is key. "We guarantee to have people on the ground within 48 hours of an event. To ensure that we can get in quickly, we mobilize teams in advance, so that they're close to the likely zone of damage even before the storm arrives.”

When forecasts showed Hurricane Ike at one point measured as the largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, with a 600-mile diameter of tropical-storm-force winds hitting land along the southern seaboard in early September, teams were mobilized to two separate locations, each side of the expected landfall. "We've learned from experience that you need to cover the bases when you can,” says Aon's Mascali. "We want to have our teams close enough to the likely zone of damage so that they can get in quickly, but not so close that they might actually be incapacitated by the storm.

"Plus,” he adds, "by setting up two bases, we increase our chances of being able to get in fast. If all your people are in one spot, and there's a major difficulty getting in from there roads are out, for instance then you're not helping anyone. Having two separate mustering points means that we are much more likely to be able to move people in quickly.”

Insurance Risk Assessments began within hours

In the first few hours after an event, the focus is on identifying the scale of the damage at clients' sites, and building an initial plan that will get their business back up and running quickly. If there is extensive physical damage, expert assessment of buildings and equipment may be needed, usually conducted alongside the clients' own people.

"The people who run the operations every day will have a good understanding of the implications of a particular facility being out of action,” Mascali explains. "We can add to that our assessment of the extent of the damage, and our experience of having dealt with similar situations before. Most operations managers have never had to deal with something on the scale of hurricane damage before luckily. We have, so we can advise on the priorities they need to focus on.”

Limiting damage that might occur after the main event is over is an important step. With something like a hurricane or tropical storm, that may mean securing premises to protect them against further weather issues or theft.

Even when the physical destruction is not so extensive, getting back to normal can be a daunting challenge. When Ike made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, one client that was relying on Rapid Response was furniture retailer IKEA. Six hours after the storm, an Aon Rapid Response team member was at IKEA's Houston store, assessing the damage and producing a preliminary report for the firms' management team by the end of the day.

The good news was that, although the store had suffered some damage, there was nothing that would stop them from reopening. The lack of electricity, however, was a hurdle. "Until you've been in a whole city with no electricity, it's hard to understand the impact,” says Russ Opferkuch, chief of operations for Aon Global Rapid Response. "Lots of things that we normally take for granted just don't work. Streetlights? Obvious. But the traffic lights don't work either, so getting around gets a lot more difficult. Working around police-enforced curfews is a challenge. Phones are out, of course, but your mobile phone will work … so long as the mobile towers have got emergency power. And you did bring a charger for your phone that doesn't rely on [electrical] power, didn't you?”