On Saturday, April 25, 2020 a tornado struck my house at around 9:15 pm. With wind speeds of 115 miles per hour, our 15 trees, reaching over 90 feet were toppled. Only one tree remained standing. Several landed on my house, causing damaged roof trusses, interior wall, and ceiling damage.

 

When it began, I called out to my family to get to the lower stairwell of our home. Emily my wife held her 92-year-old grandma in the doorway between the bathroom and bedroom. My daughter Lily sat with me. The house shook violently for three minutes.  We heard and felt a large bang when the 90-foot trees crashed onto our house.

Once it was over, I checked for damage. The biggest was a huge hole in the living room ceiling, but there was more throughout the house. I then opened the front door; it was blocked by trees. I smelled and heard natural gas leaking from my front yard. One of my uprooted trees severed the gas line. I instructed the family to turn off the candles. Otherwise a giant explosion could have destroyed the neighborhood with my house at the epicenter.

Evacuation was vital, so I opened the garage door to see if we could leave that way. It was dark and covered by fallen trees. Next, I went out the garage back door. There was no path of escape from any egress point at the lower level of the home. In the interim, at approximately 9:30 p.m. that night, my wife called State Farm to report the claim. Finally, neighbors approached, moved some tree limbs, and cleared a path of escape through the garage. I instructed the family to grab their Go Bags. I shut off the electricity. My wife helped her grandma dress in the dark. With our neighbors’ direction, we exited through the garage under the fallen tree.

We walked across the street to our other neighbor’s house; it was undamaged in this catastrophe. This put us a safe distance from the gas leak. Gas odor was prevalent for a half-mile radius. Many trees were toppled on my street in every direction. Power lines were down everywhere, presenting another threat.

Our vehicles were trapped on the property. I called a friend who came and parked his vehicle within a fifth of a mile from our home. Another neighbor loaned us a chair so grandma could sit. We then carried her across an acre and a half until we reached the vehicle on the other side of the fallen power lines. Our friend drove my ladies to shelter with family and friends. Soon after midnight, the technician finally succeeded in capping the gas line. I reentered the house to collect medicine. Subsequently, I secured everything since the garage door had been wide open.

On May 4, 2020, State Farm had promised us that an inspector would arrive within a few days. Then the inspection was pushed to the following week. No one came or called to schedule an in-person or video feed inspection. Meanwhile, we did what we could to secure the house to prevent further damage, thereby minimizing the size of the claim. The mitigation was completed around May 18, 2020, and State Farm disbursed funds for the mitigation on May 21, 2020.

We have been living in a badly ravaged house that until this week had only partial electricity. The birds are confused because they have nowhere to build their nests. Squirrels have found their way into my damaged attic and gnawed the brand-new electrical wires that are barely four months old. 

Although the insurer received the mitigation report on May 18, 2020, its exterior-only inspection was delayed until the late afternoon of May 27, 2020, nine days after mitigation and over a month post-catastrophe. This delay has allowed the insurer to impede judicious roof deconstruction, discovery, and reconstruction, among other losses. In the meantime, we have been living under duress and it is causing us great harm.

Work had ceased due to COVID-19 and now this! In view of recent events that have successively befallen us, I have not been consistent with the blog and newsletter; I apologize. It appears that returning to normal will be a slow process. Nevertheless, I will make every effort to provide valuable information through my blog, although postings may be less frequent. I always welcome any productive conversation about safety or language, and especially both. Be well, be safe, and wash your hands.