A Year After Major Tornado Outbreak, Industry, Victims Share Stories

"And we got the check for the contents this week," Hodges says. "[State Farm] wrote us a check for repairs the first time for the amount the contractor said it would take. They're back again taking care of us."

"This is my home," Hodges says. "My father built the house that's now gone. I was born in it. It's been a rough year for us, but we haven't had to worry about insurance."

State Farm is paying the Hodges' rent as they their home is being rebuilt. 

A PIVOTAL ROLE

One year after a series of tornadoes now popularly known as the "2011 Super Outbreak" scarred states in the South, Midwest and Northeast from April 22 to April 28, the insurance industry has had a major role in the rebuilding process—not only with payments on claims, but by supporting charities, such as those for affected schoolchildren, to aid the recovery.

"In meeting its financial obligations to policyholders, [the insurance industry] has played a pivotal role in helping Alabama recover economically from the most significant insurance event to hit our state since Hurricane Ivan in 2004," says Renee Carter, state director of the Alabama Insurance Information Service.

Some insurers have even picked up a hammer. On Friday, the one-year anniversary of a deadly tornado that struck Tuscaloosa, Ala., State Farm joined Habitat for Humanity.

The industry has paid about $3 billion for damage caused by severe weather in Alabama between April 22 and April 28, 2011, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

"These natural disasters were not only the deadliest in Alabama's history, they were also the costliest in terms of the property damage and business interruption claims these severe weather events generated," says Robert Hartwig, president of I.I.I.

Remembering Alabama Tornadoes: One Year Later

Forty-four people died when a huge tornado hit Alabama during the early evening on April 27. Twenty more people died when the twister spun to Birmingham. The outbreak caused more than 320 deaths—about 235 in Alabama alone.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 700 tornadoes touched down in 12 states near the end of April. About $7.3 billion was paid by insurers to policyholders, which made the late April stretch of tornadoes, hail and thunderstorms the largestU.S.catastrophe event of 2011.

But Alabama accounted for 40 percent of claims, with about 133,000 claims filed as a result of the April 22-28 storms.  Of the total $3 billion in payouts, 57 percent, or $1.65 billion, went to homeowners. More than $1 billion went to businesses, and auto-insurance policyholders received about $150 million, says I.I.I. 

'WORST THING I'D EVER SEEN'

Ken Needham, Alabama sales leader for Allstate, was traveling to a meeting a year ago on the day Tuscaloosa would be victimized by a F5 tornado (the strongest rating for tornado intensity).

"I've lived in Alabama my whole life and been through many tornadoes, but I have never seen houses taken down to the foundation before," he says. "It was definitely the worst thing I'd even seen."

Early the next morning, Allstate had people from multiple states on the ground, and the company was writing checks,Needhamsays. Claims groups went from Tuscaloosa to Huntsville, Ala. the day after to help the hardest-hit people.

"We found a gentleman in Hueytown (Ala.), who was about 90 years old—and whose house was heavily damaged—sitting in his car,"Needhamremembers. "He wouldn't leave because he was worried about his property. An agent drove him 45 minutes away to a hotel, ordered him room service, and picked him back up on her way to the office to drop him back home."

About 34,000 total claims were paid by Allstate. About 90 percent were closed in the first 30 days following the storm.

 "I have never seen destruction on the magnitude of that day," recalls Chris Simich, state executive director for Farmers Insurance Group. "Phones started ringing late that evening."

Local agents jumped in cars to personally check on clients. More than 200 Farmers agents in the state were stationed were they were needed most; more than 135 catastrophe-claims agents responded, and the insurer deployed two mobile claims centers.

The first priority was finding hotels for policyholders. Then the insurer helped clear downed trees and debris to begin assessing damage.

About 99 percent of Farmers' claims from the event are closed.  

"To imagine the size of claims we received…homes were completely destroyed," Simich says. "We are talking total losses. Stuff was blown blocks and neighborhoods away."

State Farm's Roszell Gadson, area spokesman for the state's largest insurer, says one Tuscasloosan "lost their home and had people sending some of their belongings back to them from 80 miles away."

A reporter for 15 years before joining State Farm, he says, "I've seen a lot of bad things, but this was unreal. Entire neighborhoods were gone."

More than $460 million has been paid by State Farm on 24,600 home and auto claims from April 27, 2011 alone.

USAA spokeswoman Rebecca Hirsch says the insurer of military members and their families received more than 9,000 claims.

"Our claims adjusters drove for hours each day to get water and ice to our customers," she says, adding that technology played a vital role after the storm. While the power was out, the insurer was able to send text messages to policyholders, who could also use smartphones to report a claim.

Hirsch says she remembers reading about a newlywed couple in the newspaper. They had a USAA renters' policy and lost nearly everything.

"The only things that survived were her wedding shoes," Hirsch says. "We saw their story and reached out to them. They hadn't even called us yet, and we paid their claim right away." 

'WHAT'S THAT SOUND?'

University of Alabama student Kristen Stockdale, her boyfriend and her sister were in her second-floor apartment joking about how overly-nervous they get when weather warnings are issued. A call from her father validated their anxiousness. The F5 was headed straight for them.

The trio ran to the downstairs apartment and prepared to hunker down underneath a mattress in the bathroom.

"My sister said, 'What's that sound?" Stockdale recollects. "My boyfriend went to the door to look and came booking back in. [The tornado] was across the street."

They screamed. Their bodies were crushed by the pressure; their ears popped. They could hear the tornado ripping the building apart. Calm arrived but it was short-lived because the backside of the tornado arrived for another round of wind and shaking.

When it was over the inner walls were standing. The outer walls were gone.

"Most of our stuff was completely destroyed; my car was totaled. But we were okay," Stockdale says.

Through an extension of her parents' State Farm homeowners' policy, much of the contents were covered. Stockdale says she was very pleased with the claims process after the storm. 

"They were so kind," she says of State Farm. "They know this isn't just a money loss. It's an emotional thing. They listened to our story and let us know they were there for us."

An agent gave Stockdale dishes and glasses. "It was just a little something that was so nice," Stockdale says.

Now a college graduate, Stockdale says she learned the value of renters' insurance.

"I actually thought it wasn't worth buying because you always believe nothing is going to happen," she says. "I definitely don't think that anymore."