The 2022 Kentucky Floods: An Anatomy of a Response
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
4:00pm - 5:30pm
with featured speaker
Sabine Sohigian, Assistant Treasurer
at the American Red Cross
On July 27-28, 2022, heavy rains inundated an already saturated Eastern Kentucky, causing life-threatening flash flooding that forced numerous rescues, made roads impassable, and spurred urgent warnings for residents to move to higher ground. Immediately after deadly flooding ripped through Kentucky, some 400 trained Red Cross disaster workers worked around the clock to provide a safe place to stay, food to eat, critical relief supplies and emotional support for those affected by this tragedy.
Preliminary damage assessments indicated that nearly 1,400 homes were either destroyed or suffered major damage. This deadly flooding, along with the heavy rainfall in Missouri, explosive wildfires in California and recent heatwaves, are clear examples of how more intense climate-related disasters are happening more often.
The Red Cross is seeing firsthand how families and communities are suffering and our volunteers are continuously there to offer comfort for people forced from their homes. Several months after tragic flooding upturned lives and destroyed hundreds of homes across Eastern Kentucky, the American Red Cross is still there, working around the clock with our partners to provide comfort and critical support to help those in need.
In this presentation, we will review the factors that led to the Eastern Kentucky Flood disaster, discuss how the Red Cross plans for such a disaster, what the Red Cross operational response looks like, and what types of programs the Red Cross has in place to support those impacted by the disaster. And finally, we will present options for how the SW Chapter of AFP can help support those still recovering from the disaster today.
Sabine Sohigian is an Assistant Treasurer of Cash Management for the American Red Cross. She manages the Red Cross relationships with our banking, financial, and non-financial suppliers, drives improvements in our overall cash holdings domestically, and works with our lines of service to address cash flow improvements, fraud, and best practices wherever possible.
Sabine’s Red Cross story begins at the start of the global Covid -19 pandemic. Looking for an opportunity to put her skills to use in support of a mission she believed in, Sabine found her place in the Red Cross. She began as a volunteer in the Red Cross’ CFO Workforce Planning team, where she quickly engaged with their Disaster Finance, Services to Armed Forces, and Biomed lines of service, as well as the Corporate Treasury team.
Sabine comes to the Red Cross with over 20 years’ experience in both treasury and finance, where she honed her financial strategy and leadership skills. Sabine previously worked as a Treasury Director with Aon Corporation, Vice President of Finance at ABN Amro Bank, and Manager at Deloitte Consulting. She has an MBA in Finance and BA Honors Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Pending approval for 1.2 CTP Recertification credits by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP).
Please share this SWOAFP Event with your friends and colleagues. Guests are encouraged to register and attend our monthly meetings ($50.00 fee).
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Upcoming SWOAFP meetings for 2022-2023:
December 7, 2022: TBD
January 18, 2023: Faster Payments and Real Time Payments (RTP)
February 15, 2023: @ Fifth Third Bank - Lockbox Operations Overview & Tour
March 7, 2023: SWOAFP 5th Annual Treasury Management Conference, @ VOA Center, West Chester, OH
April 19, 2023: @ 3CDC - Walking tour in OTR
May 17, 2023: @ Milacron Plant Tour, Batavia Ohio
June 14, 2023: TBD
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