By Hiroko Tabuchi
WEST GLOCESTER, R.I. — In the backwoods of Rhode Island, a team of researchers spends whole days trying to destroy things: setting boxes on fire, shattering chunks of ice, hurling debris through the air at hurricane speed.
They work for an insurance company, FM Global, and the pandemonium simulates the hazards that are expected to strike with increasing frequency in this age of extreme weather.
“There’s a realization that hazards are changing, and we need to understand that,” said Louis Gritzo, the lab’s research manager, who has spent his career studying deadly risks. “This year will be a tipping point.”
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The risks of flooding, which wreaked havoc during Hurricane Harvey, bring a whole other layer of testing and preparations. While the relationship between climate change and hurricanes is complicated, it is becoming clear that a warming planet will produce wetter storms, while sea level rise will worsen the impact of storm surge.
Mr. Gritzo grills companies over their flood preparedness, making executives wear virtual reality goggles programmed to transform the lab into a flood zone, with muddy water licking at the walls.
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