Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2021

mother nature
Mark
Schmidt
Grand Mound
Mark Schmidt sits in the control room of
American Mutual Insurance Association
in Grand Mound where the generator that
powered the firm’s work after the derecho
stands at the ready. The generator powered
the company’s server and phone system as
it handled hundreds of claims from clients
after the Aug. 10 storm. On the desk beside
Schmidt is the paperwork on each claim that
was taken by hand until employees were able
to enter them into the computer system.
Eastern Iowa Farmer photo / Trevis Mayfield
according to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, causing
more than $7 billion in damage. Central
Iowa along Highway 30 was the epicenter,
bearing the brunt of the impact.
When the winds subsided, Schmidt
jumped in his truck and headed to the
office. An employee called to tell him the
building was without power so he had
someone go to a local store to get one of
the last large generators.
“When I finally got the power running
the next morning, it was about 7 a.m. We
had the server up and the phone systems
going, and then the phones started ringing.
All four lines lit up, and it was that way
for what seemed like days,” Schmidt said.
The company filed 495 claims – representing
about 27% of its policy holders
– from that single storm and paid out
close to $7.8 million to local farmers and
homeowners whose grain bins, livestock
barns, machine sheds, homes and more
were damaged or destroyed by hurricane-force
winds.
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