In the aftermath of an EF1 tornado that touched down near State Route 303 and Stanley Road in Windham and then traveled northeast across Bryant Road and the Ohio Turnpike, the Windham Township Board of Trustees held an emergency disaster relief meeting last Sunday afternoon at the Windham Township Hall.
The focus of the meeting was for insurance claims specialists and agents to give advice to the residents on how to properly address the damage done to their properties.
“I asked them to come here to talk to everybody about ways to keep you from getting ripped off by insurance companies and questions you may have,” Board President and Fire Department contact Dan Burns told the audience.
Burns also said that the township had already filled 10 dumpsters with debris. Windham’s troubles from the tornado were also compounded by the tornado siren not going off.
Portage County Emergency Management Agency Director Ryan Shackelford told The Weekly Villager that there was an electrical issue with the siren. Shackelford said he believed the siren was functional but did not have any power. He does not think it needs to be replaced.
In addition to the Board and Shackelford, Ellerhorst Russell Insurance partner Mark Russell and Samuel Ranalli, President of Paramount Elite, an insurance claims specialist & residential reconstruction company, were also in attendance.
Shackleford said that despite the devastating property damage, no resident was severely injured from the tornado, aside from some scratches. He added that within 24 to 48 hours, all roads were reopened including the Ohio Turnpike.
“Once we got through that first response phase, we moved into recovery. The next phase was to try and gauge the impact and to go out and do what we call damage assessment from this event,” he said. “We had 34 homes that were impacted and assessed as destroyed in our FIMA lingo. One had major damage and everybody else was classified as minor.”
As a government agency, the PCEMA was not allowed to access private property, but the township donated their personal equipment to remove the debris and transfer it to a dump behind the Water Department.
Shackelford also said that the PCEMA opened their disaster relief fund through the Portage Foundation.
“We are one of the few counties in Ohio that have a disaster relief fund through a 501(c)(3),” he told the audience. “I do not know what kind of monetary donations have been received but hopefully we receive a decent amount. Down the road depending on what we receive, we will be able to help homeowners with uninsured loss.”
He ended his address by saying the next step was to remove all debris and that the PCEMA would work with the solid waste district to do so.
Salvation Army Major Paul Knickerbocker said that there would be 9,000 pounds of food coming into the community on April 23 and people could receive the food at the Renaissance Family Center.
A representative from the Windham Lions Club said that through the Ohio Lions Foundation, they would provide gift cards to Walmart and grocery stores to those who were impacted.
Ranalli provided the audience with advice about how to deal with their insurance providers and contractors. He urged the residents to rely on local contractors to help with repairs.
“Outside of these walls, you have a lot of folks out there that are trying to figure out how to pick you dry,” he said. “That unfortunately includes criminals, but it can also include contractors. You need to be very clear on what you are entitled to and what you are covered for and what you are not.”
He said that Windham residents need to find contractors are equipped and multi-faceted to handle tornado repairs. Ranalli added that just because a policy said something was covered, that did not mean it would be covered in its entirety, meaning there could be limits.
“If you have water damage like standing water, there are limits on those type of things,” he noted. “When you have those types of issues and that type of damage you are going to be dealing with another type of adjustor. This is a lot for anybody to handle.”
He emphasized that if Windham allowed outsiders to come into Windham and try and help, they would most likely steal and create a deterrent for the companies that really could help.
He warned the audience that if a contractor demanded being paid up front before driving a single nail into the repairs, then they should find a new contractor do business with.
Russell then advised everyone in the audience to secure their property.
“Make sure you have taken action to create an environment where you don’t have any further damage on your property,” he said.
He explained that the residents would most likely deal with three kinds of adjusters, an in-house adjuster, a catastrophe adjuster or an independent adjuster. He added that if any resident had to relocate to another residence because the damage was too significant, they could check their insurance policies to determine if they have additional expense coverage.
Ranalli said that residents need to check their policies for clarity on whether they had an Actual Cash Value or Replacement Cost Value coverage.
“If you know that up front, you can start game-planning for it as the project continues but I am telling you folks to make that call,” he urged the audience. “If you filed a claim already or you have a claim still, call them make sure you have RCV coverage for storm damage.”
Windham residents Todd and Siobhan Buston spoke about their difficulties in getting in touch with their insurance company.
“We have lost so much and we are safe and the big people that we are supposed to count on, the insurance companies, cannot even call us back,” Siobhan noted. “For days we have only got one quick phone call back and that is not fair.”
Todd said they had already tried calling their insurance company’s corporate headquarters in Columbus but had not received a response. Russell advised them to call the Ohio Department of Insurance.
Shackelford noted the PCEMA had already filed a complaint to Ohio Congressmen Dave Joyce about the lack of insurance responses.
Ohio Southern Baptist Church Disaster Relief Director John Heading said that the OSBCDR had arrived in Windham and would be available to help with any tree removals.
“I believe everyone got the answers that they needed,” Mayor Lawrence Cunningham told The Weekly Villager. “Everyone got the contact that they needed and the right representatives were here. Going forward it should ease everything for everyone so I think Sunday was a great thing.”
