As natural disasters go, the Salt Lake twister of August 1999 was more a financial stiff wind than a tornado.
Not only did it strike one of the most emergency-prepared states in the country, but it also contained itself to one of the best-insured areas in the city.That's according to federal officials, who six months after the fact have disbursed just more than half a million dollars in federal aid -- a small fraction of the estimated total damage and about a third of the eligible damages originally estimated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after President Clinton declared the tornado a major disaster.
But the feds aren't being stingy. It's just that they can't duplicate funds for damage already covered by private insurance, said John Kainrad, FEMA Region 8 director of response and recovery.
"Naturally, insurance is your first line of defense," Kainrad said, "and after that, federal assistance is available."
Although insurance companies do not disclose settlement figures, by most accounts it appears that they were left holding the lion's share of the bill for Utah's biggest news story last year.
Some examples:
Of about $2.6 million in costs for debris cleanup and repairs to public infrastructure, only $553,445 is being covered by federal funds while more than $1.9 million was covered by insurance, according to FEMA records.
Of 185 private homes affected by the tornado, only 34 applied for federal aid, and 11 were found eligible for a total disbursement of $7,762. Most of those that were found ineligible had damage that was already covered by private insurance, said Verdi White, deputy director of the Utah Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management.
Of 49 applicants for low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration for tornado recovery, 10 homeowners and seven businesses were approved for a total of $260,300. Those to whom aid was declined were likely also covered by private insurance.
Both the Delta Center and the Wyndham Hotel, the two largest commercial buildings seriously damaged by the tornado, are submitting insurance claims of about $5 million each.
Salt Lake City is getting ready to negotiate an insurance claim for more than $1 million in damages to trees in Memory Grove.
An updated estimate of the total damage in dollars to the area is nonexistent mainly because many insurance settlements have not been finalized, and nobody has collected data of damage costs to private homes and businesses.
At the end of each year insurance companies report to the Utah Insurance Department how much they have paid for losses in different categories but not for specific events, said department public information officer Jolene Whitby.
'A positive example'
The consensus among local and federal officials is that the area's recovery burden was greatly alleviated by a combination of emergency preparedness, widespread insurance coverage and a spirit of voluntarism that permeated the community after the disaster.
"We've used your community as a positive example with many other communities around the region and around the country," said Jim Chesnutt, FEMA public information officer. "We thought Salt Lake did a terrific job building emergency preparedness and hazard mitigation into the local culture and into the local planning of the community. That's reflected in the amount of insurance and the relatively small amount of individual assistance" needed from the government.
In addition to the $553,445 in public assistance, Chestnutt said FEMA has disbursed a "relatively modest" $50,742 for individual assistance: $7,762 to 11 homeowners under the Disaster Housing Program; $29,871 paid to 18 applicants under the Individual and Family Grant Program for other needs ranging from furniture to medical expenses; and $13,109 for six claims filed under FEMA's Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
Salt Lake public services director Rick Graham said the city has yet to settle its insurance claim. As a result, thus far only seven trees have been planted in tornado-devastated Memory Grove, just east of the Capitol. The park lost more than 400 trees to the twister.
A $6 million "dream" plan has been devised to revegetate and improve Memory Grove, Graham said.
The Memory Grove Foundation, a private organization established to maintain and improve the park, has pledged $226,000, and Salt Lake County has committed $100,000 to restore the park. Another $40,000 in donations from individuals and businesses that poured into the city after the tornado will also be used for the park, he said.
On Capitol Hill, two of 100 trees pledged by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Games have been planted. A landscaping committee is preparing a plan before Capitol grounds crews begin to relandscape the area, said David Hart, director of the Capitol Preservation Board.
Amazingly, while the tornado destroyed more than 80 trees, the Capitol sustained only one broken window for a total cost of about $100 in damage, Hart said.
'The best worst-case scenario'
Repairs for two other downtown buildings that weren't so lucky -- the Delta Center and the Wyndham Hotel, 215 W. South Temple -- are nearly complete. The Delta Center, which sustained serious roof and window damage, is awaiting warmer weather to have its outside concrete resurfaced, said Dave Allred, Utah Jazz public relations vice president. As estimated originally, damage has amounted to almost $5 million, most of which will be covered by insurance, he said.
"If you are going to be hit by a tornado, this was the best worst-case scenario. It didn't do any structural damage to the building. Everything was pretty cosmetic," he said.
Wyndham Hotel general manager Debra Brandsrud said the estimated claim for damages at the hotel was also about $5 million.
Only a few small businesses around the Delta Center sustained irreparable damage. Among those, Sun Club owner Sharon Strickler said the building on the corner of 200 South and 700 West, valued at about $300,000, was a complete loss. She also suffered an additional $80,000 in property damage and about $240,000 in six months of lost revenues, she said. Twenty-eight employees were also left without jobs.
Immediately after the tornado destroyed her building, she rushed to the site thinking the damage could not be that serious "until I got that first look of the building and realized the whole second floor on the west side was gone," she said. "Then it really came home to me, that it was serious, that it wasn't just a few bricks falling."
Fortunately, Strickler said, "We did have insurance coverage, and (the damage) will eventually be covered by insurance."