First-Ever Hurricane Impact Report for Clubs Released

Collaboration of FLCMAA, Club Benchmarking and National Club Association

(Washington, D.C.) – A Hurricane Irma impact report on clubs — the first of its kind — has been released by the Florida Chapter of CMAA (FLCMAA) in conjunction with Club Benchmarking and the National Club Association (NCA). Key findings from the 79 surveyed clubs include insurance claims for damages in excess of $27.5 million — including $9.5 million in damages to golf courses — and 5,855 impacted employees. “Hurricane Irma 2017” captures critical information about the experiences of clubs across the state of Florida in preparing for and recovering from a natural disaster.

“For the first time ever, clubs will have vital data on how devastating storms like Hurricane Irma impact clubs caught in the wake of a natural disaster,” said Henry Wallmeyer, NCA President & CEO. “We are pleased to have partnered with Club Benchmarking and FLCMAA to produce this groundbreaking report that will help clubs prepare in the future.”

“This publication memorializes the tragic natural disaster, the impact that it had on clubs, and the important implementation practices to be learned from such an event,” said Beth Sargent, FLCMAA Executive Director. “No event has been documented in such a way within the club industry before. This publication and the supporting documents will be used to provide managers the knowledge necessary when these events occur in the future; not only in Florida, but with club managers throughout the United States.”

“Hurricane Irma was a storm of historic proportions and even experienced management teams took away some very hard lessons. We felt it was important to capture their experiences and document them in an informative and meaningful way,” said Jim Butler, Club Benchmarking CEO. “Stakeholders in these important community institutions—members, employees and vendors—were deeply impacted by Irma both personally and financially. Our hope is that this report can help to improve what we understand about the importance of preparedness and response planning going forward.”

Details gathered include information about insurance claims, club facility closures and club responses and the final report offers best practices in natural disaster readiness and recovery.

“Hurricane Irma 2017: The Economic, Human and Social Impact on Florida Clubs” is available to NCA members, FLCMAA members and Club Benchmarking clients. For more information on this report, contact FLCMAA Executive Director Beth Sargent at 561-373-0919 or md@flcmma.org.