Couple sue over tornado damage

Jul. 30--An elderly couple whose house in the Grace Chapel area was destroyed by a tornado in 2017 say that their insurance company has refused to pay for much of the damage.

A tornado and torrential rains on Oct. 23, 2017, caused multiple trees to fall and crash through the roof of a house on Clearlake Drive in the Northlakes community of southeastern Caldwell County owned by Robert Earl Abercrombie and Susie Gray Abercrombie.

But State Farm Fire and Casualty Company repeatedly denied a substantial amount of the Abercrombies' insurance claims for the damage to the house and its contents on the grounds that the Abercrombies, who are in their 80s, "failed to reasonably mitigate" the damage by not climbing atop their roof and putting a tarp over it, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Abercrombies.

The couple purchased the house in 1973 and raised their children in it, the lawsuit said.

The ridge and roof of the house's left side was destroyed by the trees that crashed through the roof, through the attic and exterior walls, and down to the ground floor master bedroom, the lawsuit said. The impact of the felled trees cracked the foundation crawl space wall. The trees also broke roof rafters and the sheathing above the rafters.

The tornado was accompanied by heavy rain and winds that blew through the gaping hole in the roof and saturated the entire downstairs of the house and all of its contents, along with much of the basement, the lawsuit said.

At the time of the storm, the Abercrombies were not at the house.

After the storm, the house was inaccessible for another five days, during which the home was continuously exposed to the elements, the lawsuit said.

Even if they could have reached the house, it would not have been logistically possible to place a tarp over the hole in the main ridge or the "gaping chasm" in the southern wing in any way that could have protected the interior of the home, the lawsuit said. The chasm was too wide, and there was no substructure beneath it on which to fasten a tarp.

"It appears to be State Farm's contention (unfounded and impracticable and impossible though it may be) that if the (home) had somehow been 'tarped' or otherwise sealed off from the elements" soon after the tornado, "then parts of the contents, floor and wall coverings" and other aspects of the home might have been saved, the lawsuit said.

The house and its contents were worth $330,277.31, the lawsuit said. The most the insurance policy said it would pay is $253,700.

About four months after the tornado, State Farm "began posturing and postulating," the lawsuit said, sending a letter to Robert Abercrombie stating that nobody tried to dry out the interior of the home and that wet carpet was not removed. "Moisture readings and observation from ServPRo found that the living room ceiling and kitchen subfloor are wet and biological growth was found in the living room and upstairs hallway," the letter said.

The letter said that a condition of their insurance policy was that they protect their property from further damage after a loss.

"As the duty to protect your property from further loss has not been met, there is no coverage for damage caused by the lack of mitigation," the letter said.

The lawsuit says that the entire house was soaked for a full five days without power or climate control before State Farm's team -- or anybody else -- could even get to it with any kind of equipment.

On July 17, 2018, State Farm sent a letter saying the most it would pay the Abercrombies was $114,682.01, although the company later increased the payout by around $15,000.

The Abercrombies haven't completed their contents and living expenses claims with State Farm, but the lawsuit says that those claims probably would be subject to State Farm's "failure-to-mitigate" defense.

The lawsuit asks that State Farm be ordered to cover their damages, plus an unspecified amount of incidental, consequential and punitive damages, along with attorney's fees.

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 828-610-8721.

___

(c)2019 the News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.)

Visit the News-Topic (Lenoir, N.C.) at http://www.newstopic.net/

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.