To provide the best possible service and response to customers who have damage from the tornado, the following are in place: 

• Catastrophe claims adjusters and support members are deploying and arriving on-site. Catastrophe claim teams will be actively making contact and providing initial claim handling efforts for our impacted customers with a focus on the most severe losses. Catastrophe Customer Care sites are being planned in the most impacted area to support claim handling efforts for local residents, additional details will be shared as available.
• The 1-800-SFCLAIM line is activated and available for customers to begin the claim reporting process, should they be unable to reach their local State Farm agent. 
• State Farm policyholders who have damage can submit and manage their claim through various channels. This includes calling or emailing their State Farm agent, calling 1-800-SFCLAIM, submitting a claim through our mobile app or through our website at statefarm.com/claims. Customers may also text the word “CLAIM” to 62789 to receive a link to file a claim.

Our response includes State Farm agents who live and work in the same neighborhoods as our customers, and teams of claim specialists trained in disaster response traveling in to evaluate damage on site. They are joined by thousands of employees in centralized care centers across the country helping answer customers’ questions and file their claims. Additionally, our remote claim teams are able to conduct virtual inspections with impacted customers following the storm, helping customers in their time of need. 

Our State Farm Customer Response Unit (CRU) is traveling throughout the impacted community. CRU team members and State Farm agents are distributing needed items such as bottled water, work gloves and other useful items for residents. The CRU team responds immediately following a disaster, and navigates throughout impacted areas to provide in-person contact and assistance to those in need. State Farm agents often ride along on the CRU, and can offer neighbors helpful information about filing their claim and insurance tips. State Farm is there to help residents during this first and critical step on the road to recovery.  

Tips for assessing tornado damage when safe to do so:

• Don't enter damaged buildings until they are declared safe and use extreme caution around debris. Wear appropriate clothing, like sturdy shoes or boots, long sleeves and gloves.
• Safely check your home or apartment for any signs of structure issues and hidden damage.
• Safely take pictures of your home's damage, inside and out.

Tips for making temporary repairs to damaged property:

When it is safe to do so, people with repairable/limited property damage should have reasonable temporary repairs made to prevent further damage to their property. Depending on your coverage, these repairs may be reimbursed. Save receipts if you purchase items such as tarps and plywood or other supplies to make repairs.  

Sadly, his small town community has faced tornadoes of historic proportions – two of those storms among the strongest ever recorded. His city, home to beautiful neighborhoods and thriving economic development, has earned the unfortunate distinction as the frequent target of killer tornadoes.

“By 2013 we were beginning to ask some questions of each other,” said Terry Cavnar, State Farm Agent and Moore City Council Member. “We can no longer ignore this. We can’t say this isn’t going to happen again because it continues to happen. So, we began to look at the options.”

In the past 15 years, the city of Moore has fallen victim to tornadoes on three separate occasions. In 1999, an EF-5 tornado swept through the community causing $1.2 billion in damage, and taking 40 lives. In 2003, an EF-4 devastated the town. Most recently in 2013, Moore faced a second EF-5, killing 24 and causing $2 billion in damage.

After each storm, Drake and other city officials were left to wonder what – if anything – they could do to better prepare their community for these catastrophic storms. After the 2013 storm, they decided to take action.

A Time To Act

The search for answers led to the formation of a special committee made up of council members, builders and citizens to re-examine building codes and ensure all new construction was best equipped to deal with extreme weather.

The committee called on Chris Ramseyer, Associate Professor-Civil Engineering at the University of Oklahoma to help in the planning effort. Even before the 2013 storm, Ramseyer had been studying the performances of residential structures in high-wind events and was very familiar with the city’s plight.

“I was here the next morning,” Ramseyer said of his hours following the 2013 tornado. Amongst the utter devastation, Ramseyer found what he was looking for. “We had a house with a slab essentially wiped clean. It was EF5 damage,” he said. But just seventy feet away, a home stood largely intact. The two homes were too close to have provided for much difference in wind speed, Ramseyer concluded that the structure must have saved the second home.

The committee developed their plan of attack and agreed all future homes needed to be practical, affordable and repeatable on a large scale.

“Chris looked at it from both structural integrity and also cost. The impact it would have on the cost of residential construction,” said Drake. “And I think the homebuilders bought into that, and they had confidence in him.”

Building Better AND Stronger

The result was to refine the building technique, rather than adding new materials. The new approach called for a change in the basic house framing, pushing builders and contractors to expand upon their normal approach. Longtime Moore builder, Tom Pollard notes,“ it’s not even a big cost issue, it’s just an educational process.”

“The biggest difference is in the framing,” said Cavnar. “With some more tie-ins, especially between the walls and the roofing, strengthening in your openings, framed openings, windows and doors.”

In addition to the added protection, there was more good news: The cost.

“Our research shows that you can do it for a cost of roughly a dollar a square foot,” said Ramseyer.

Drake and the committee are enthusiastic about this new approach as a means to protect, preserve and prepare the homes of Moore.

“We were ecstatic,” said Terry Cavnar. “We could do something that would withstand an F3 tornado, 135 miles an hour, for a minimal amount of cost. We were thrilled.”

And while the success of these measures will ultimately be born out in the coming tornado seasons, for now this process stands out as a great example of what can be accomplished when a community works together.

“This has been one of the easiest code changes I’ve been involved in,” said Drake. “I didn’t think that would be the case when we started this process, but it was.”