Tornado: Days 19-25

Day 19, Monday, July 6, 2026

Well, the holiday weekend is over.  This week we hope to see the adjuster finalize his paperwork and get us a check for at least the living expenses and lost personal property.  Finalizing that will also mean that we can start on repairs in earnest.  So far, all we’ve been able to do is mitigation (temporary repairs so that things don’t get worse, like tarping a roof) and tree and stump removal, which insurance isn’t going to pay for (for the most part).

This week we are also hoping to hear some word on when (or if) the pile of tree debris in our front ditch will be picked up.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.  Since we don’t live in the city limits, the city is not going to pick it up, so it will end up being the county or the township that does it, if any government entity does it at all.

Day 22, Thursday, July 9, 2026

So far we haven’t heard anything from the adjuster, who was here over a week ago.  This is typical.  It’s always a “hurry up and wait” situation.  In the meantime, we can’t do any further repairs until we get the go-ahead from insurance and (hopefully) a check to get things started and reimburse for our lost personal property and living expenses immediately following the tornado.

I connected to a logger who harvests hardwood from local properties and he is going to come out tomorrow to check things out.  I’m hoping that he might want some of the large logs we have awaiting disposal or even want to cut down some of the remaining trees that are dead or dying.

Day 23, Friday, July 10, 2026

We found out late last night that no governmental agency will be picking up our cleanup pile that is out front.  We also found out that our neighbor, who lost 50+ trees, hired someone to remove his.  That person saw our pile and developed a quote, which was communicated to us by the neighbor.  He is scheduled to remove all the debris over the weekend.

What most people don’t realize is how many out-of-pocket, non-reimbursable expenses one incurs with this sort of disaster.  In our case, so far, we’ve spent (not covered by insurance), $12,000 for tree removal, $1,600 for stump grinding, and now we’ll add another $1,500 for debris removal.  Add to that a 10% deductible on the insurance for the pole building and house, on top of the normal deductible of $1,000 and that’s probably another $1,400 or so.  It adds up quickly   ($17,500 and counting, so far).

UPDATE:  State Farm finally sent us the preliminary estimate.  It’s quite different (lower) than my public adjustor’s estimate and we can see several major items that were left out.  My PA is going to submit some corrections, with documentation, so we should be able to get a revised estimate.  This stuff is usually a process, rather than an event, so modifications are typically made throughout the repair process.

Day 24, Saturday, July 11, 2026

Today we had the debris that was stacked all along the street in front of the house removed.  The man showed up with a huge truck with a crane.  It took him 8 or 9 full loads to get it taken care of, but now it’s gone except for two very large red oak logs that are going to the saw mill to be made into boards.