Florida Hurricane Recovery Effort

Calling All "CAT-Team" Adjusters Lisa Kaestner Helps with Florida
Hurricane Recovery Effort
by Joan Barrett

She is lovelier than most models and speaks quietly about her
experiences as one of the first wave of adjusters to volunteer to
go to Florida to help with the Catastrophe Teams after Hurricane
Charley struck. Lisa Kaestner has stoicism about her but wells up
during policyholder's tales of hardship and loss. "How well you
listen to the people will make the claims experience more
successful in most cases." Lisa states. Lisa's company, Allied
Insurance on the West Coast and it's parent, Nationwide
Insurance on the East Coast, has the catastrophe business down
to a science. On checking in with the Catastrophe Center in
Florida, she was assigned a Team Leader, lodging, a computer
and printer and a van with a wireless card and plug-in capability
to settle core claims on the spot, right from the vehicle in a lot of
cases. With Allied/Nationwide's exposure in Florida at an
estimated 75,000 auto, commercial, marine and homeowner
claims, they are counting on their 'cat teams' to close as many of
the files as possible during their 3 to 6-week assignments. Each of
the 16 regional claims centers around the US has supplied
adjusters to the Florida catastrophe and will continue to do so as
long as the claims remain at catastrophe level. Lisa feels that the
experience was very gratifying and found such wonderful
camaraderie with her fellow adjusters from around the country.
They all helped one another when they could during their long
days with work stretching into the evenings most times. Her team
was as prepared as possible for loss of power when the second
hurricane Frances hit, but was fortunate that the damage to the
area they were staying in was minimal and they did not have to
evacuate.

The West Coast adjusters had some adjusting of their own to do,
the unfamiliar terms 'pool cage' and 'lanai' had to be absorbed
since most of the screened 'pool cages' that enclose pools from
bugs and critters will have to be re-screened if they still exist. The
effects of the hurricane winds inside a house are amazing, Lisa
said, with debris and tree branches from blown-out windows being
whipped around inside the house causing damage wherever they
hit. Major hurdles for the insurers are code issues since codes
have been adapted since Hurricane Andrew to make the buildings
safer during hurricanes. Many times the house has to razed as a
result of the new requirements, driving the cost of replacement
through the nonexistent roof.

The general devastation of entire areas is hard to describe, Lisa
admits, but her photos of the area she worked along the East
Coast in the Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte regions tell the story.
She relates how the weather conditions of heat and high humidity
make it difficult to work on rooftops that won't see a contractor
for repairs for weeks if not months. Power loss means that a lot of
telephones are out, making it impossible to schedule
appointments with policyholders so the adjusters just drive by and
hope to catch someone at the house. When she did make contact
with the policyholders, Lisa was amazed at how nice and
cooperative the hurricane victims were and she wonders if the
situation will change when she returns to Florida for another tour
of duty with the beleaguered Floridians.

Love will enter into Lisa's plans as she and Scott Elliott, also on
the Allied Insurance Company's staff, will be married in Minnesota
in October. She has informed the company of her wedding date
and has been assured that the management will make every
effort to accommodate the newlyweds before sending Lisa back to
handle more catastrophe claims. Others with the company have
had vacations cancelled and Lisa is hopeful that Allied will find
other volunteers for Cat Duty until after her and Scott's wedding
and honeymoon.

Photos: Top left - Lisa Kaestner on the job in Florida; Top Right -
Pensacola Bridge; Lower Left - Pensacola Marina. Damaged
grapefruit orchard in Florida. Washed-out section of Indian River
Drive in Jensen Beach, Fla., which was hit by Hurricane Frances.
Photo provided by Lisa Kaestner.

Publisher's Note: Additional photos provided by email forwarded
from Ida Harrison, my grandmother, who lives in Gulf Shores,
Alabama. She, fortunately, did not suffer such damage.

Bryan Harrison