While it may not carry the same name recognition for many as Houston or Galveston, more than 54,000 Americans live in Port Arthur, Texas, a port city in Jefferson County just outside of Houston. Port Arthur is susceptible to hurricane damage from storms in the Gulf of Mexico, like Hurricane Laura. If you live in Port Arthur, you may have some hurricane insurance coverage on your home or business, but do you know what it covers? In the wake of Hurricane Laura, what will you do if your insurance company denies or underpays your claim? In this article, we’ll talk about what to expect from your insurance company this hurricane season, and when to get a confidential free consultation from the hurricane attorneys at Florin|Roebig.
Why have hurricane insurance coverage in Port Arthur, Texas?
A flood map simulation of a Category 4 hurricane predicts Port Arthur water levels could rise to upwards of 24 feet elevation from sea level. That’s more than enough to damage even houses on tall stilts. This is no surprise to residents of Port Arthur who have lived there long enough to remember the storm season of 2017 where Harvey left many people devastated for years after the weather event.
The slow rate of recovery for Port Arthur occurs partially because infrastructure repair and revisioning happens at the speed of bureaucracy in government. Having comprehensive insurance coverage is one way to protect your home, business and other assets. That said, sometimes an insurance claim doesn’t provide for consumers the way they expect it to, or the way they need it to in order to repair damage to their home in a timely manner. This leaves many people in Port Arthur scrambling to protect themselves each hurricane season.
Hurricane Laura Damage In Port Arthur
Hurricane Laura was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall near Port Arthur early Thursday morning. Category 4 hurricanes have sustained winds that reach 145 miles per hour. This makes Hurricane Laura just as strong as Hurricane Harvey which ravaged the Texas coastline, tying with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest hurricane on record.
In a tropical cyclone as powerful as Laura, Harvey or Katrina, you can expect to incur damage to your home or business. This usually entails broken windows, roof shingles and paneling torn off of building, building collapses, foundation and infrastructure damage, damage from projectiles and water damage that occurs from hurricane damage as well as other sources of flooding, like under doors that aren’t sealed or through windows.
Powerful hurricanes also often bring tornadoes, which pose an additional threat to property damage, as is the case with Hurricane Laura.
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Property Damage Frequently Caused By Windstorms and Hurricanes
Hurricanes themselves are destructive, but they can also cause a host of other natural disasters that can amplify the damage left in a hurricane’s wake. Wind damage is a common type of destruction property owners see in the midst of a hurricane. Property damage that may result from very strong winds include:
- Roof lifting: Roof lifting is just as it sounds – your roof lifts off of your home or other property and either comes completely off or leaves behind serious damage.
- Roof damage: In addition to roof lifting, other damage can happen to your roof during a hurricane. This can ultimately result in the need for a full roof replacement.
- Structural damage: Strong winds can blow down trees and power lines. These have the potential to fall on your home bringing down sections of your homes walls, roof, or other structures like a shed.
- Garage door damage: Garage doors are often very susceptible to damage caused by high winds and can blow in, blow down, or become damaged in another way. Your cars can suffer damage from this and potentially cause your cars to be totaled.
- Broken windows: Broken windows are very common in high winds and can leave the rest of your residence or property susceptible to damage.
- Moisture damage: High winds can blow in water and leave your home exposed, making the growth of mold and mildew highly likely. When a window seal is broken from hurricane gust winds, water damage is likely to occur.
- Damaged siding: Debris that is blown around due to high winds can cause damage to your property’s siding.
- Door loss: High winds can cause doors to blow in or even to come off of their hinges completely, requiring door replacement once the hurricane has passed.
- Sliding glass doors: Strong winds can break the seal around the sliding glass doors causing serious water intrusion. This can lead to mold and other moisture problems.
Other common damages seen as a direct result of windstorms include pool damage, carport and porch damage, automobile damage or loss, projectile damage, destruction or loss of personal property, and damage to septic tanks. Luckily, if you have homeowner’s insurance, all interior damage should be able to be fully paid for due to wind or water damage as a result of a hurricane. However, filing an insurance claim and receiving compensation isn’t as easy as it sounds.
How To Document Hurricane Damage
As soon as it’s safe to do so, your first course of action should be to prevent further damage by whatever means you have access to. Blocking flooding from inside your home can be the difference between life and death in some cases, so it’s important to do as much safe triage on your home as possible during and just after the storm to protect yourself, your family and your belongings.
Once you’ve resolved any immediate needs, you should be prepared to document hurricane damage. To do this:
- Take photos: Take more pictures than you think you need. iPhone features like burst photos allow you to take many photos at once with a high-speed shutter.
- Document different angles: In addition to taking lots of photos, make sure you document different angles so you show an entire view of the damage.
- Use before photos: If you have photos of the home before damage occurred, use those to show the difference in before and after.
- Pay attention to lighting: Bad lighting can make an image hard to see and may cause insurance adjusters to have additional questions, make sure to get a clear photo of the damage in the best light you can.
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Hurricane Damage Insurance Claims Lawyer Port Arthur, Texas
If you or a loved one has experienced hurricane damage due to Hurricane Laura, it’s important that you get the insurance claim payment you need to repair your home or get back to business operation as soon as possible. That’s where Florin|Roebig can help!
The law firm of Florin|Roebig has experienced hurricane damage insurance claims lawyers that operate in Port Arthur, Texas. We understand what a hurricane like Laura means to your community, and have fought to help people just like you get the most for their insurance claims. To learn more about how Florin|Roebig can help you, contact us today for a free case evaluation.
