Panos Kouvalis, General Manager of Interamerican Group of Insurance, spoke about the decisive role of private insurance in the preparation for natural disasters in SKAI 100.3, with Dimitris Economou and Akis Pavlopoulos on Wednesday 26/2.

As he pointed out, “we have an increased frequency of natural disasters in recent years and the severity of these phenomena is growing.” The major floods in Central Europe, the fires in Los Angeles, the flood in Valencia, as well as the recent devastating phenomena we have experienced in our country, such as “Daniel”, confirm this trend.

The need for durability and cooperation

“The direction is one: to increase the durability, that is, to learn to deal with natural disasters more effectively,” Mr Kouvalis underlined, while stressing the need for cooperation between the state, local government, specialized bodies and the private sector. The insurance industry is a key pillar in this effort. “Insurance companies are important to compensate immediately after a disaster in order to continue life and economic activity,” he said.

At the same time, we need to strengthen the communities and restore hope to the affected areas, supporting NGOs and volunteer groups that do multifaceted work in this direction. A typical example is Anytime’s initiative in collaboration with Humanity Greece, fully undertaking the redevelopment of the external area of ​​the elementary school in the large Karditsa Monastery that suffered serious damage.

The role of technology

Mr Kouvalis referred to the crucial role of digital tools in the prevention and warning part of extreme weather, talking about the cooperation developed by the Interamerican Group with renowned agencies such as the National Observatory of Athens. “We have built a system that shows us the degree of danger to every area,” he said. Also, with the application of Meteo Roads, when, for example, heavy rainfall or other extreme weather events occur, we can see what is happening on the streets, which is very important in terms of accessibility. “These are two of our examples. There are examples that come from our shareholder, Achmea, which has extensive know -how, especially on the subject of flood. ” The Netherlands is a good example because it is a country that lives under the sea, in fact. There, public and private partnerships have reduced flood damage by 30%.

Below you can hear the interview of the Director General of Interamerican Group Panos Kouvalis in SKAI’s “Information Broadcasting”