Families Surveying Damage after Tuesday’s Storm

TYLER — The Lynn family is one of many who suffered storm damage from Tuesday’s afternoon thunderstorm in Tyler. More specifically, a tree is now lying on their house, according to KETK. They immediately made a call to their insurance company, who gave them some tips on using a reputable repair business. Tyler Lynn was in his house when the tree hit. “I was in my room, which is right there where the tree’s kind of falling on, and all of a sudden I saw a flash of lightning and I heard a big crunch,” said Lynn. “Next thing I know I come out and see that there’s a big tree laying on our house.”

After the shock wore off, he called the insurance company, who walked him through the next steps on finding a trustworthy repair company. Lynn says, “The insurance agent, when I talked to her yesterday, after we were done talking, she said to always make sure to ask…to see insurance papers because she said there’s a lot of unscrupulous people out there that come out of the woodwork after a storm and that’s one thing I should look for.”

Roland Browne owns local roofing company Stonewater Roofing. He says if homeowners find themselves in this situation, they need to protect themselves. “You want to definitely use a reputable company, like Stonewater Roofing,” says Browne. “You want to use someone that’s insured. In our case we’re insured up to $3 million. a lot of these guys, they don’t have any insurance, they don’t have any worker’s comp., etc.” Browne says it’s also important to document everything for your insurance company. “I think one of the mistakes people make when this happens is they’ll go ahead and call a company out, take the tree off, and they will not have any photos of that prior to (the damage). Your insurance company wants to see photos of the damage prior to you taking it off. ”

You can always check with the Better Business Bureau if you’re unsure about a business or person that has approached you and offered services. Lynn says his insurance agent also encouraged him to check with multiple companies for quotes on the repair.