Millions Of Dollars In Insurance Claims In Tornado's Aftermath

Anthony said that number is expected to grow many times over as data continue to come in from insurance carriers. And the figure does not include damage to public property, businesses or cars. Those costs will be included for the Federal Emergency Management case.

On Tuesday afternoon, Roberta Perry of Wilbraham was picking up a check from an insurance claims adjuster who had camped out on Route 5 in West Springfield.

Perry said she came home last Wednesday to find two trees on top of her house. After she called a removal service Thursday morning, she called Safety Insurance and filed a claim.

The process has been smooth, she said, even if she's only been given a portion of her full claim, just to get started on "the initial start-up [costs] for the out-of-pocket stuff, you know, like the tree removal, just stuff that you need attention to, picking up trash bags and picking up and things like that, just to be able to live," Perry said.

Fran Gurten, the claims adjuster from Safety Insurance, said her company thought it would be a good idea to set up a mobile office in the area. The afternoon has been busy, she said, and she's handing out checks ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

"I get emails for my office, where they've approved advanced payments for people, or additional living expenses, and the people will come here and I can write them the checks to at least get them started," Gurten said. "It's obviously not the end of their claim, but mostly we want to get people back on their feet as much as we can, right away."

As homeowners continue to assess damage to their properties, the state, along with Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno, said there have been a few reports of fly-by-night contractors coming in to the area to take advantage of homeowners desperate for help with repairs.

"There are unscrupulous, despicable individuals out there that will look to prey on people who have been traumatized right now," Sarno said, "playing on their fears, playing on their emotions — 'If you give me this money, I'll take care of it.'"

One woman on Russell Street in West Springfield, who declined to talk on tape, said a man went door-to-door earlier this week offering to sell plastic tarps for $1,500 a piece. She recognized that as price gouging and asked him to leave.

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