Mississippi Insurance Agency, Like Others Hit by Storms, Vows to Rebuild After Devastating Tornado

For the third time within the final 18 months, tornadoes or a hurricane have worn out or have closely broken well-established insurance coverage businesses within the Southeast.

And all three of these businesses have rebuilt their companies or have vowed to bounce again shortly.

Within the newest catastrophe, Farm Bureau’s company in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, was ripped to shreds by an estimated EF-4 twister that hit the Mississippi Delta city late final week.

“Our workplace is gone. Completely demolished,” stated Leslie Stephenson, supervisor of the 49-year-old company on Blues Freeway in Rolling Fork, a city of about 2,000 individuals. “However we’re going to be all proper. We’re going to rebuild. The constructing was there for 49 years, so we’re going to rebuild it to final for at the very least one other 50 years sooner or later.”

Stephenson stated that Farm Bureau Insurance coverage, one of many largest property and casualty insurers within the state, shortly introduced in a cellular claims unit after the twister struck Friday night time. Regardless of losses to the workplace and their very own property, company workers dealt with greater than 360 claims from different residents within the space and wrote insurance coverage checks on the spot.

“We wrote checks all morning lengthy,” Stephenson stated.

About half of the claims had been for automobiles and half had been for property harm. “And virtually all of them had been whole losses,” she stated.

The company was amongst greater than 2,000 companies and houses within the state that had been closely broken by the twister, which had winds as excessive as 160 mph and likewise hit tiny Silver Metropolis, close by. At the least 21 individuals had been killed within the space. Information studies confirmed complete blocks virtually cleaned by the tornado, leaving nothing however constructing foundations and scattered belongings. It’s been known as the deadliest twister to hit Mississippi in additional than 20 years.

President Biden permitted a significant catastrophe declaration for 4 counties, permitting federal support to help in restoration.

Two states to the north, in Kentucky, one of many largest insurance coverage businesses within the state noticed its Mayfield workplace destroyed by a twister in December, 2021. Inside weeks, the 99-year-old Peel & Holland company had moved to new digs and continued to course of greater than $60 million in claims from the storm, stated Roy Riley, president of the agency.

To the south, Lee County Insurance coverage Company in North Fort Myers, Florida, was flooded throughout Hurricane Ian in September 2022. The house of company proprietor John Gardner additionally was closely broken.

At the moment, the company remains to be understanding of a brief workplace house whereas the agency continues to rebuild its unique location, an workplace employee stated Tuesday.

High picture: What was left of Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork. The enterprise was proper subsequent door to Leslie Stephenson’s Farm Bureau Insurance coverage company, which was additionally demolished by the twister. (AP Photograph/Rogelio Solis)

Subjects
Disaster
Pure Disasters
Windstorm
Mississippi