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Round Rock residents await home repairs weeks after severe weather
For Round Rock residents, the cleanup process after severe tornadoes has been tiring. One neighbor said she’s been waiting weeks on an engineer to come out.
AUSTIN, Texas — Katy Dunn is one of many Round Rock residents still trying to pick up the pieces of her torn-apart Round Rock home.
“This is, like, not even the worst of it. All the insulation came and littered the garage,” said Dunn.
A tornado touched down in her neighborhood more than three weeks ago. Dunn is currently living in an apartment because she doesn’t have any electricity in her home.
The homeowner of three years said she’s been experiencing delays in getting engineers out to assess damage due to high demand.
“It took about two weeks to get an engineer out to look at the house. This is his second time looking at the house now,” said Dunn.
Her contractor, Jared Lincoln with Belfor Property Restoration, said his company is ready to get to work on Dunn’s home but they have to wait for engineers that are called in beforehand in order to start the repairs. When severe weather hits, the wait time can vary. Lincoln said with a heavy backlog, the wait times could take from a week to a month.
Another step in the cleanup process is insurance. Ben Gonzalez with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) said for homeowners with damage, get a claim process started as soon as possible. Also, plan to stay home for the appointment.
“You know your house better than anybody else, so you want to be there when the adjuster is there so you can point out things that you’ve noticed,” stated Gonzalez.
TDI created a list for homeowners on steps they can take before and after storms hit. Some things to do before include:
- Make an inventory
- Find your insurance card and policies
- Know your deductible
- Know where you can see a doctor
- Review your coverages
What to do after a storm includes:
- Filing a claim
- Keeping a record of everyone you talked to with your insurance company
- Trying to be there when the adjuster visits and point out all damage.
For Dunn, doors and windows were blown off the hinges in her home, but some items are still intact. For those with rooms completely gone, Gonzalez said know what’s in your home.
“It sounds ridiculous, but make a home inventory because if a room is completely gone, it’s difficult to remember what was in there. A home inventory can help a lot when you’re making a claim. Also, a home inventory is just as simple as going from room to room, take your phone out and take pictures of everything,” said Gonzalez.
TDI has a help line for insurance questions or if you need help contacting your company. The help line number is 800-252-3439.
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