| Saving
Cincinnati from September 11th
By
Chris W. Kite, MBA, Vice President-Strategic Relations
December
21, 2005
Do
you know how Cincinnati was saved from a September 11th catastrophe?
Did you know Cincinnati was about to be attacked? How do we
protect our communities in the future?
The
year was 1862, not 2001. Confederates invaded Kentucky hoping
to attack Cincinnati. This Queen City of the West controlled
the Ohio River Valley. It was one of the five or six largest
cities in the United States and a crucial transportation hub.
On September 10th, the Confederates advanced within a few miles
of Battery Hooper, the communication hub for an eight-mile line
of defense south of Cincinnati. They saw the Union defenses
in these hills and then marched away in the night.
The
Smithsonian Magazine reported this story in its September article
“The Best Offense” by Andrew Berg, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues05/sep05/digs.html.
“After the war, the site would be all but forgotten.”
Construction in 1941 buried Battery Hooper in dirt. In the summer
of 2004, its recovery began with an excavation project funded
by the Scripps Howard Foundation, Northern Kentucky University,
and the City of Fort Wright.
In
1862 Union General, Lew Wallace (future author of Ben Hur) organized
the construction of hilltop defenses, building an eight-mile
line in six days. William Hooper financed much of the project.
Grocers gave food. Women cooked meals and served as nurses.
The Black Brigade of Cincinnati helped build the batteries.
People wondered if the work was worth “all this fuss”.
“What if the Confederate Army doesn’t come?”
people asked. Wallace replied, “They will have decided
better of it because of all this fuss.”
Nothing
Happened.
Because
of all their fuss, nothing happened. The Confederate army turned
away. In time, people forgot about the valiant preparations
and what catastrophe could have occurred and how history would
have changed. The defenses were built by ordinary citizens to
protect their city in a crisis. ‘It’s an example
of homeland security, of defending your community against terrorism,’
said Fort Wright city administrator Larry Klein.
What
can we do today to increase the chance that nothing happens?
How can we help to wisely rebuild communities after catastrophes
happen?
At
the December NAIC meetings in Chicago, Scott Gilliam, Government
Relations Officer for Cincinnati Insurance Companies, spoke
on the importance of building catastrophic reserves. Government
and business people are looking to improve our preparations.
The natural disasters in 2005 give an exclamation point to these
issues. Mr. Gilliam noted the need to provide tax deferral for
building catastrophic reserves. The proposals by insurance companies
are not a request to reduce taxes, but to change the timing
of when they are paid and encourage the building of reserves.
The funds are dedicated resources that can only be used for
catastrophes. The tax changes should have a smoothing effect
on income that would be attractive to investors. Mr. Gilliam
discussed how laws in other countries encourage these reserves.
Seeking tax law changes is risky business, but the issues need
to be addressed.
In
the life insurance business, reserves are also a hot topic with
product innovations, an aging/higher life expectancy population,
and the development of principles based reserves. I hope that
the development is an intelligent design and not just a political
and economic evolution. Ben Hur and Civil War studies were some
of my boyhood interests. Let’s hope that we have Lew Wallaces
who will lead these preparations to protect families and communities.
Additional
information:
Link for article on National Catastrophe Insurance Summit in
November 2005:
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2005/11/25/62517.htm
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