As Hurricane Dorian demonstrated last week in the Bahamas and elsewhere, catastrophe can strike without warning with devastating force. How can companies prepare to respond when that happens? Wharton professors Howard Kunreuther and Michael Useem interviewed managers, directors and executives of more than 100 of the largest enterprises in the U.S. In this opinion piece, they explain why some firms have developed creative strategies to reduce the risk of disasters, whether they come from inside or outside the enterprise, while others have not. They provide a checklist for avoiding future disasters. Kunreuther and Useem are authors of Mastering Catastrophic Risk: How Companies are Coping with Disruption (Oxford University Press, 2018).