To experience firsthand how the insurance industry is responding to the tornado that took out a large swath of Joplin, Mo. on May 22, PC360 went to Joplin and spent the day following agents and catastrophe claims reps from State Farm Insurance, which was the largest writer of personal lines in Missouri in 2010, with $1.1 billion in direct premiums, according to Highline Data.
As of June 1, nearly 17,000 claims have been filed by Joplin policyholders. The slideshow, which shows images from many different Joplin neighborhoods, gives a sense of the extent and intensity of the damage—and makes clear that many of those claims will be for homes and auto that are total losses.
The devastating Joplin tornado left more than 150 dead and 1,000 injured.
The tornado's path through Joplin was nearly one-mile wide and seven-miles long, leveling homes in neighborhood after neighborhood.
Even mega structures, such as St. John's Mercy Hospital, suffered massive damage.
Joplin's high school.
American flags where everywhere in Joplin–and flying at half-mast.
Many survivors left messages on their home to let friends and relatives know they had made it through the storm.
A destroyed home.
Smashed cars were scattered across the city.
Thousands of denuded tress stood like stark skeletons on the landscape.
Homeowners often wrote the name of their carrier on their house's exterior walls—if the walls were still standing.
Reconstruction has begun in even the hardest-hit areas.
The extent and intensity of the damage was almost beyond description.
The residential neighborhood near St John's Hospital.
A home in a neighborhood where damage was considered “less severe”—near where the tornado first touched down.
While this home was destroyed, books remained neatly arranged on a shelf.
Personal possessions were blown all over the city.
Reconstruction has begun.
Metal wrapped around trees was a common sight.
Two close-up views of the damage.
Some homeowners have decided to leave the city.
One of Joplin's main commercial strips was heavily damaged as well.
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