We are not referring to the movies.. Tornadoes happen here
It is hard to believe that two years have passed since the June 1, 2011 tornado that wreaked havoc on Western Massachusetts. I recently spoke with one of my clients who lost everything on that day. I remember speaking to him the day after the tornado struck. His words, “We lost it all”. I’ll never forget that. He told me that his wife was hunkered down in the basement. She said it was all so surreal, it happened so quickly. She heard crashing like she had never heard before. In shock she looked up and saw blue sky feeling confused and scared. Her home was blown away, just like that. She made her way up the cellar stairs and across piles of what was once her home. She managed to get through the debris. Still dazed and confused, she walked toward her car only to find it smashed, totaled, gone.
Not only did they lose their home, car and all of their personal items. They lost the very place where so many memories were made. I recall my client mumbling that I could not replace that.
What I could do was start issuing checks payable to my client that day. That is exactly what we did. They chose to have a portable mobile home delivered to their lot where their home once stood. It was nearly a year before they were moved into their new home. It was a long painful process that as my client said was bitter sweet. The silver lining is that the proper insurance protection was in place. The home was re-built using the replacement cost formula, personal property was replaced at today’s replacement cost. A new car was purchased and life is back to normal. As normal as it can be anyway.
Having the proper insurance protection is crucial, especially in a catastrophic event such as this one.
Today is a good day to contact your independent insurance agent to review all of your insurance policies to make sure that you have the proper insurance protection.
Tornado links from NOAA