RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. held a hurricane forum in Rhode Island.

The Northeast Hurricane Mitigation Leadership Forum was held in Newport and was co-sponsored by RenaissanceRe's affiliate, WeatherPredict Consulting Inc., non-profit organisation Federal Alliance for Safe Homes and the University of Rhode Island on July 10 and 11.

The event coincided with the 70th anniversary of the catastrophic Great New England Hurricane of 1938, a category three storm which killed over 600 people.

Presentations and panel discussions were led by scientists, emergency responders, disaster management administrators, academics, insurance industry leaders and policy-makers, and addressed threats associated with a major hurricane and ways to mitigate the damage caused by the storm.

The Governor of Rhode Island, Donald Carcieri, who gave the opening address at the forum, said: "The important issues the forum delegates tackled in terms of hurricane research and awareness are crucial to our goal of making our citizens as prepared as possible for the next severe storm.

"Rhode Island and our neighbouring states take hurricane planning very seriously. I know that my administration's emergency management leadership gained added insight into how a major hurricane could impact our state and region thanks to the presentations made at the forum."

This is the second Hurricane Mitigation Leadership Forum event organised by RenaissanceRe.

Neill Currie, president and CEO of RenaissanceRe, said: "We were very pleased by the success of the Northeast Forum, and by the enthusiastic reaction we have received from participants and attendees. Working together, we can help residents of storm-exposed communities to safeguard themselves from hurricane risks and to reduce the economic hazards faced by coastal families and businesses over time.

"RenaissanceRe is proud to support mitigation initiatives such as the Forum and research programs such as the RenaissanceRe Wall of Wind, which inform and enhance the products and services we have provided our customers and partners since 1993."