St. Louis Latest Major Metro to be Hit by Tornado

St. Louis is the latest reminder to insurance carriers, following Brooklyn and Raleigh, N.C., that destructive tornadoes aren't only an issue in rural communities.

When tornadoes hit more populated areas, there's a potential for heavy losses on both the personal and commercial sides. The St. Louis airport was hit particularly hard. )BusinessWeek has some information on damage to planes.) The amount of claimants means that carriers have to get a big field force out quickly, with enough people to handle the volume.

However, carriers are following best practices for response to such storms: Midwest Family Mutual's Ron Boyd told I&T last week that one of the most important things for carriers to do following the total loss of a home is to get continuity payments in policyholders' hands so that they can get on their feet and resume some semblance of normalcy as soon as possible. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

An insurance representative handed them a $1,500 debit card for their temporary living expenses because their home was uninhabitable. They had spent the two previous nights with friends. But with the debit card in hand, they planned to move to a hotel last night. Hundreds of homeowners whose houses were destroyed have already been handed similar checks and debit cards from insurance companies, according to the Missouri Department of Insurance.

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio