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Earth, Wind and Fire – When it’s Not a Concert InvitationI. Catastrophic Events – When, Not IfWhat is a catastrophe? Webster’s defines a catastrophe as a momentous tragic eventfrom extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin. 1Dictionary.com defines catastropheas a sudden and widespread disaster. 2Our daily news broadcasts are filled withreports of disasters and catastrophic events. The past few decades have brought arapid increase in both the frequency and severity of extreme natural catastrophes.Among the recent extraordinary natural catastrophes are: Hurricane Andrew (1992),the Northridge Earthquake (1994), the Kobe Earthquake (1995), South Asia Tsunami(2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), the Fukushima nuclear meltdown that resulted froman earthquake and tsunami (2011), Super Storm Sandy (2012), and the Moore,Oklahoma tornado (2013). Of course, catastrophes are not always natural disasters.The world as we knew it changed as a result of the September 11, 2001 terroristattacks.Disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, and acts ofterrorism naturally turn our focus towards the loss of life, injury to persons, and thedevastating effect on local communities. Such events, however, can similarly devastatea business. For most businesses, a catastrophe is a very low frequency but very highseverity event. Although uncommon, it is just a matter of time until a catastrophic event1 Catastrophe, MERRIAM-WEBSTER, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catastrophe (last visited2Dec. 9, 2014).Catastrophe, DICTIONARY.COM, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/catastrophe?s=t (last visitedDec. 9, 2014).March 5, 2015 2 @ 3-5-2015 ALFA International6427256.3/SP/00009/0099/011215