Tornado Property Damage Claims Adjusters

Pride Public Adjusters Inc. has the most experienced tornado property damage claims adjusters in the industry, our licensed public adjusters will be at the scene of your claim within hours* and know the ins and outs of a residential, commercial or industrial tornado claim


Monday, May 21, 2013

MOORE, OKLAHOMA – A killer tornado annihilated Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City with a population of 55,000, Monday afternoon leaving at least 91 victims dead, 20 of them children though the numbers have not been finalized. The twister was more than a mile wide as it swept through parts of Oklahoma City leveling homes, tossing cars through the air and wiping out at least two schools. Residents rushed hospitals while rescue workers fought through debris to the many that remained trapped under rubbage said authorities. Hospitals reported at least 145 people were injured, 70 of them children. At least 237 people total were injured according to the state’s Office of Emergency Management said Tuesday, citing the Health Department. Thousands of survivors were left homeless.

Plaza Towers Elementary School was one of five schools, hit hard by the deadliest tornado to strike the United States in two years killing seven children of which several drowned in a basement area at the school according to Oklahoma Lt. Governor Todd Lamb. One of the children among the non-survivors was Ja’Nae Hornsby her father told CNN. At one point, an estimated 24 children were missing from the school who later showed up at nearby churches. The estimated peak wind ranged from 200 to 210 miles per hour injuring about 240 people. The trail of destruction ran 17 miles and 1.3 miles wide, the length of more than 22 football fields. The National Weather Service reported the tornado as a rare EF5, the most powerful category of tornadoes possible. Crews surveying the damage in Moore reported rain, half-inch hail and 45 mile per hour winds over the field of debris. They said the tornado struck at 2:45 p.m. CT on Monday only five minutes after the first warnings went out.

Rescue workers pulled more than 100 survivors from collapsed homes, schools and a hospital.
The National Guard, police and firefighters from at least 12 fire departments and rescuers from other states joined in the search and rescue effort. Tinker Air Force Base sent out a search and rescue team providing searchlights, vehicles and water trucks while neighboring Texas sent an elite 80 member urban search team. The American Red Cross sent 25 emergency response vehicles. So many volunteers showed up to assist that authorities had to send them away.

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak said the damage to property was likely to exceed that caused by the 2011 twister in Joplin, Missouri that killed 161 people. Insured losses from the Joplin tornado exceeded $2 billion. AIR Worldwide, a disaster modeling company, estimated replacement value of the properties within a mile of each side of the tornado’s track at around $6 billion which represents a rough estimate of the potential upper limit losses. Kelly Collins of the Oklahoma Insurance Commission told CNN that insurance claims will likely top $1 billion.

2,400 homes were damaged in Moore and Oklahoma City said Jerry Lojka of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Some 10,000 people were directly impacted. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said the storm knocked out power to the plant and authorities put the facility on generator power but would be restored Tuesday. Onlookers took videos of the terrifying tornado that captured debris flying through the air, rooftops blowing off and flattened residential areas for miles as the twister swallowed the sky and roared like a train toward Moore, Oklahoma. Their voices were filled with terror and sympathy for the thousands of residents caught in the wake of the monster. The sky was painted hues of gray and black mixed with residue of homes and businesses.

Moore and the Oklahoma City areas are all too familiar with disasters. 168 people died in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Then Moore was directly struck by tornadoes in 1999 and again in 2003. The 1999 tornado logged the strongest wind speeds in history, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said. A record that may have just been broken by Monday’s storm.

The storm system behind Monday’s twister and several on Sunday could continue to threaten parts of north-central Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, northern Arkansas and Louisiana according to the National Weather Service. In the Moore and Oklahoma City areas, crews have shifted from rescue to recovery mode.

President Obama signed a disaster declaration Monday night to send federal emergency aid to supplement local recovery efforts a White House statement said. Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano will travel to the area on Wednesday to meet with state and local officials.

Country singer Toby Keith’s sister’s home was among those hit by the tornado which is no longer livable. 500 of Toby’s fans from all over the world sent text in support of a potential benefit concert. NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder star, Kevin Durant, pledged $1 million through his family foundation to the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts in Oklahoma, the Red Cross said Tuesday.