NU Online News Service, May 21 12:23 p.m.EDT

Look at a map of the United States. You could make a case thatJoplin, Mo. is the heart.

A year ago on May 22, at about 5:40 p.m., that heart was brokenwhen a tornado with winds of more than 200 mph ripped through thecity of about 50,000 people.

But with insurance playing a large role, Joplin is recoveringand rebuilding.

“There's been quite a bit of activity and I think the insuranceindustry has done a commendable job,” says John M. Huff, directorof the Missouri Department of Insurance.

Huff says the tornado is the state's largest insurance eventever. So far insurers have paid about $1.5 billion on claims and itis expected that number will approach $2 billion by the time allclaims are settled.

“You don't see big piles of debris anywhere on the streets,”Huff says of Joplin. “I notice changes every time I go. You see theprocess of rebuilding.”

The violent tornado tore up the city's high school and hospitalwhile damaging more than 7,500 structures. The storm took the livesof 161 people.

According to city officials, about 65 percent of the dwellingsdamaged in the storm have received building permits for repairs ornew construction.

Soon after the tornado spun away, insurers sprung to action,says Huff.

“They [insurance companies] hit the ground running,” says Huff.“They had their catastrophe teams out helping customers. I thinkJoplin impacted them.”

The degree of devastation left by the tornado was difficult todescribe. Huff, who was in in Washington D.C. as a member of theU.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council when the tornado struck,was told the scene looked like a war zone.

“But you can't know the magnitude until you see it foryourself,” Huff explains. “It was incredible. We had jobs todo.”

Technology played a huge role in the recovery right from thestart, he says. The department was immediately posting informationonline, keeping in contact with carriers. Insurers used computersin mobile command centers to plot where insureds were located, getinformation on damages, and keep track of whether the policyholderwas taken care of.

“Insurers were immediately distributing funds—issuing checks ordebit cards for expenses,” Huff says.

Within the first 100 days after the tornado, insurance companiesdoled out $1 billion to Joplin policyholders.

Huff says communication between his office, insurers andpolicyholders went a long way to maintain satisfaction. TheDepartment of Insurance has received 1,111 complaints and inquiriesrelated to the tornado. The department's involvement has led to$5.4 million in additional claims payments from insurers.

Huff has told insurers they'd need to extend rebuild deadlinesin order to avoid bad-faith accusations and possible legalaction.

At the six-month mark after the storm, Huff's office held anevent to get a “pulse check” of the recovery and insurance-paymentprocess.

“We got a lot of traffic, but not a lot of trouble,” hesays.

Lately, Huff says he's been encouraging residents to make surethey are adequately insured. Agents can play a role in this aswell, he adds. Many homeowners—particularly seniors without amortgage—and renters realized they weren't properly covered fordamages after the tornado.