Storm Damage!!

I was awakened about six this morning by the storms coming through. The house was shaking. I thought it was thunder, as lightning was flashing. Went back to sleep.

When I got out of bed hours later, the water pressure was off. They have been remodeling the school at the end of the road, and it's not unusual (though they haven't done it lately) for them to turn off the water. Put my shoes on and went to walk down to the school to see. Stopped dead in my tracks as I looked down the driveway. A huge branch, what is really half a tree, was down. Took out the garage, and broke the pipe to the washing machine below the cut off valve. Also damaged the back of the house in at least one place, crushed the eve and overhang and damaged the roof.

I have insurance and filed a claim, but they said the area's a catastrophe, and can't tell me when an adjuster will be out. I had a plumber come and he was brave enough to enter the collapsed garage and cap the pipes, so I have water but not hot. No biggie at this time of year here.He cut the gas off, just to be safe. Electric to the garage is turned off as well.

I'm grateful no one was hurt, and that I can probably live here in the mean time. I hate to have to deal with a claim, I've never filed one. I hope it goes well.

WOW!!!

Glad you weren't in that part of the house and you are ok!!

You must be a deep sleeper to not have noticed that kind of an impact, though!!

Good luck on the claim, I've had to make a few, and they've always gone smoothly, so hope yours does.

Bill

It awakened me alright, it was just so much thunder and lightning, I thought that's what it was. The house has shaken and rattled much the same way in storms before from close strikes. I went to sleep at around four-thirty in the morning, so I may wall have been sleeping heavily.

Wow, lucky you were not back there. I am glad it is just house damage and no one was injured.

This thread needs pictures!!

Bill

On my side of Houston there was a lot of wind, blinding rain and a bit of hail but we escaped unharmed thank God!

AlexGT

That is a huge bummer! What a way to start your day. Nobody was injured though, and that's what matters most.

We got our powerful thunderstorms Thursday morning. Some of the closer strikes, at a block or two away, shook the house like someone was dropping semi trucks on the neighborhood.

Glad you are alright.

Do you know much about the Texas Department of Insurance?

Torchman,


What part of Texas? My mom lives in Jasper, TX and they had tons of damage when the hurricane came through and recently some bad storms a few nights ago killed power to the whole area. They have tons of trees down from the hurricane that still need to be cut up and hauled off. Hope all goes well for you.

Thanks for for the encouragement, it helps, it really does.

No, I don't know about the Texas Department of Insurance. Please do tell!

I'm in Houston. My neighborhood had some damage. My grandmother's house had the power lines take a hit from a limb, no electricity. She's not staying there though.

iNDiGLo,

Hoping for the best for your parents. I know where Jasper is on the map, and it was in position to have a hit from Rita. Actually this whole tree crushing the garage and part of the house thing is about what I was expecting from that hurricane before it turned east, though I was thinking it'd huff and puff like the big bad wolf and blow the house down. I wonder how long we'll get lucky, and we are overdue!

Torchman -

I don't have specific or experiential knowledge of the TDI but do have some general knowledge of Insurance Departments.

It might be good to familiarize yourself with TDI. Most states' IDs work fairly similarly. They regulate the insurance business. The primary mission is to protect the consumers. They are usually fairly powerful.

Insurance fraud usually conjures up thoughts of fake injuries, accidents, fires and yes, murder. Fraud does also apply to insurance agents, agencies and companies not paying on legitimate claims.

Knowledge is power so being knowledgeable about The Texas Department of Insurance could be helpful. Good insurance agents are somewhat scarce and very valuable. Bad agents are not scarce and can cause unnecessary stress and loss of property and dollars. An agent or agency or company that is being difficult can be a challenge to deal with. One that is clearly doing wrong can be less difficult to deal with. If they are Property/Casualty what they don't want to here is, "Well, that doesn't line up with what the Insurance Department said. I'll check back with them to see what they say about your decision." Most insurance departments can drop a license for an agent or agency, disallow rates and forms business from a company, arrest and help facilitate prosecution of those conducting business fraudulently.

They work for the citizens of a state. IOWs, they work for you.

Wow Torchman! What a rude awakening. I'm glad no one was hurt!

If the insurance company (I won't name them here) isn't coming out until friday, does that mean they are dragging their a** on this?