One Year Later, Missouri Director Huff Recalls Joplin Response

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

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

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

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

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

Huff says the tornado is the state's largest insurance event ever. So far insurers have paid about $1.5 billion on claims and it is expected that number will approach $2 billion by the time all claims 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 the process of rebuilding.”

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

According to city officials, about 65 percent of the dwellings damaged in the storm have received building permits for repairs or new 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 think Joplin impacted them.”

The degree of devastation left by the tornado was difficult to describe. Huff, who was in in Washington D.C. as a member of the U.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 for yourself,” Huff explains. “It was incredible. We had jobs to do.”

Technology played a huge role in the recovery right from the start, he says. The department was immediately posting information online, keeping in contact with carriers. Insurers used computers in mobile command centers to plot where insureds were located, get information on damages, and keep track of whether the policyholder was taken care of.

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

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

Huff says communication between his office, insurers and policyholders went a long way to maintain satisfaction. The Department of Insurance has received 1,111 complaints and inquiries related 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 deadlines in order to avoid bad-faith accusations and possible legal action.

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

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

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