Tornado Damage and Low-Income Homeowners

In Alabama, tornadoes wiped out uninsured homes, By Tanya Ott, May 5, 2011, National Public Radio: “Across the South, crews are clearing debris and starting the rebuilding process after last week’s deadly tornadoes. Early estimates put the amount of insured damage at up to $5 billion across the region, but that doesn’t include all of the uninsured damage, which could be extensive. Robert Jamison’s house in the Smithfield Estates neighborhood of North Birmingham has been wiped out. ‘It all the way demolished. The wind blowed everything out there,’ Jamison says as he and two friends pick through what’s left of his home. Furniture, clothing, appliances – all ruined. The roof is missing, as is one wall. The floor joists are bowed and the whole place looks like it could collapse at any minute. Jamison says it feels like his whole world is falling down around him. ‘I dropped the insurance on the house because I couldn’t pay it no more. The economy got me,’ he says…”