Risk, Rewards, Resilience and Wind

Two weeks ago, northwest Indiana and the southern suburbs of Chicago got an unexpected lesson in risk management: a massive derecho with almost no warning, winds likely over 100 mph, tornadoes and the punch of a Category 3 hurricane—just without the name, three-day media buildup or much national attention.

After about 20 minutes under the stairs, we emerged largely unscathed. But nearly half a million people lost power across Illinois and Indiana; suddenly, a lot of things we consider "infrastructure" weren't actually available: cell service, gas stations, credit cards, ATMs, roads, trains, schools and even some medical care.

We eventually went 14 days without power in my neighborhood of Miller Beach. [Editor's Note: Dean [West] (author's husband) was traveling this whole time enjoying lights, hot showers and air conditioning because of his deep commitment to creating client value.]

Please select this link to read the complete blog post from My Seat at the Bar.