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Health & Fitness

Insurance Agency Thrives One Year after devastating flood

A look back one year later at the experiences of Allen & Stults Insurance in the aftermath of Hurriance Irene

Hightstown insurance agent Cappy Stults was on his one week Adirondack vacation the week of August 20-28, 2011; far from any television set, cable or internet. Typically while in the Adirondacks, he travels from the family cabin into the Tupper Lake library every few days to catch up on emails and check out the weather forecast. Earlier in the week he had heard of a hurricane in the Bahamas and on Wednesday, August 24th, he called his offices to a make sure disaster plans were being put in motion. This “plan” was typically for notification to their insurance clients on how to prepare and provide their clients emergency contact information to report a claim, 24/7. Emails were to be sent out later in the week and message forwarding phone numbers were to be activated.

Over the next 24 hours, he became increasingly concerned as the upstate NY Public Radio station was reporting on the expected track of the recently upgraded category 3, Hurricane Irene. Cappy advised his wife Chris that he was going to cut his vacation short and return to NJ late Friday night or early Saturday. His reasons were to be able to respond to the anticipated client claims that would be coming into his offices. On Friday, August 26th, he had advised his office just as a precaution to move certain items off of the floor and place them on top of their desks before they left for the weekend, “just in case we get torrential rains that cannot drain off the street and parking lot”, he advised them. He also requested his office manager to find out where everyone was going to be that weekend and get from them additional phone numbers incase cell phone and their home phones were out of service. He started driving home at 3 am Saturday, August 27th.

On his 7 hour drive home, he listened to the Weather Channel and Fox News on his XM car radio. Being in the insurance business typically makes one more aware of weather predictions but also how media can hype same. But he was very familiar with the computer modeling used by insurance carriers in underwriting and pricing. These models showed the devastation that could result from a hurricane making landfall in NJ. He became increasingly concerned that this storm, Irene, was going to be unique.

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He remembered that as a boy he was told stories about hurricane Hazel which devastated the Middle Atlantic and Northeast in 1954.  For years large fallen trees and damaged buildings were pointed out to him as having been from Hazel years before. He was told by his father and grandfather about the teams of insurance adjusters who had to come to Hightstown, many sleeping and being feed at their homes as public lodging was limited (the NJ Turnpike exit not yet being opened).  

In 1954 Hazel was a “wind event” for the central and western NJ so his concerns about Irene were to have contractors and mitigation companies ready for his calls to help remove trees from businesses and homes. He also knew that once in Hightstown he would have to gas up and test the office generator for a possible power outage. But as he progressed down the NY Northway, the radio reports reported that Irene was to hug the coast, not going inland and would likely be west or over NJ as it passed. This he knew from experience would mean less wind, but a lot of rain.

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In 1971, when he was still in college but home on summer break, he sandbagged both the front and back doors of Allen & Stults at 106 North Main Street, when Tropical Storm Doria dumped over 10 inches of rain on August 27-28th. He also recalled it had been a wet late August that year so the lakes were high and the ground was wet. The town did indeed flood in 1971, but at that time Allen & Stults was only in 106 North Main Street and the water came within inches of the first floor but did not enter the building.

It was now passed daybreak, August 27, 2011, as he crossed into New Jersey on Route 287. The radio was reporting that Irene was crossing NC’s Outer Banks and although its wind speeds had dropped to a category 1, it was staying on track to make landfall in NJ, was moving slowly and was picking up a lot of moisture.

When he arrived in Hightstown, the rain was heavy but intermittent. The air struck him as not being as humid as he had recalled in 1971 and during other tropical storm close calls, but the clouds were low, fast moving and ominous. He entered his office and saw that most items had been moved off of the floors. He called agency manager Greg Byrne who came in with his son and they moved computers even higher onto desks and tables, just in case. There was some minor flooding in the area at that time, but as of the late afternoon, the water was nowhere near the downtown buildings. 

That evening he sent more emails to clients and insurance company claims managers, tracked the storm and started to make some lists updating the disaster plan and options. He went home to get some sleep about 11 pm Saturday night as things seemed to be under control but he needed some sleep for the next day as he expected to be busy with client calls, he thought.

After only a few hours, his tenant Scott Caster called to tell him “the offices are underwater”. Having slept in his clothes, he laced up his boots and drove the ¼ mile to his office. Indeed the streets were flooded and the Stockton Street entrance to his parking lot of Stockton Street was too deep to drive through so he drove around CCL Labels and into the highest part of the parking lot.

He first saw that Caster’s photographic studio was under 3 feet of water which he knew meant the same for Allen & Stults offices. After entering the office from the back parking lot, there was not only 2 feet of water throughout the building (3 feet in some sections due to the multi-level of the office), but the water was filled with mud and there was an oil sheen on the top of the water. Worse is that it was still pouring rain.

Cappy immediately waded through the water making sure everything of importance was high above the water line. Other than two copying machines and scanners, all computer equipment placed on the desks were roughly 6 inches above the water. Seeing that the water was still rising, he gathered books, reams of paper and side chairs, some of which were floating, and placed them on top of the desks and elevated the computer equipment another foot or so. This placed them nearly 2 feet above the then current water level, but it was still only 2 am. The only thing left to do was to plan for what would come after the water receded and how to be opened for business at 8:30 Monday.

He laid out the plan to break out a wall on the second floor, opening Allen & Stults offices into OGP Architect offices. Cappy knew they had an area that could accommodate six work stations. He also reconfigured the second floor to be able to accommodate all of the client files that were on the first floor and an additional location for 4 employee workstations. By sun up, the plan was finished and the “to do” list was finalized.

On Sunday morning at 7 am he started making phone calls. Although the storm was still located over NJ, he wanted to get first on the list of available contractors. He also called and emailed a number of commercial clients to see if they would be in need of any assistance. He had Greg Byrne call all staff and prepare them for how to come into work on Monday: old clothes and old sneakers and a strong back. He requested them to come in early to prepare for the day. Anyone who wanted to come in Sunday could, but if they were needed at home, that is where they were to stay.

He called Barry Gordon at OGP Architects and requested permission to break into their space and wire the front area for temporary offices. He estimated we would need the space for 60-90 days.

He then called Jim Zavacky, Hanover Construction and George Conley of Conley Electric. He explained to Jimmy what had occurred, asked if he could arrange for a couple of dumpsters to be delivered as soon as possible, and asked if he could have a crew to start ripping through the upstairs wall, and start tearing out sheetrock on Monday morning.

He requested George Conley Electric to come in as soon as he could to start rewiring the phone extensions into OGP offices as well as temporary intranet lines. George started working that evening and into Monday morning. Jim Zavacky was successful in having dumpsters delivered before sunrise on Monday, maybe the first ones delivered in NJ post Irene.

Cathy Mazzoli, Brent Rivenburgh, Greg Byrne and son Kyle, Debbie Corrington, Kevin Duddy and Adam Overmyer all pitched in some on Sunday, but not much could be done until the water was fully gone and the temporary relocation areas ready to go. ServPro was also called to supply one crew to remove all of the wet carpet and deliver 12 blowers and 6 dehumidifiers. When the staff arrived at 8 am Monday, August 29th, only 16 hours after the water had left the building, Cappy explained the “plan”.

The “plan” was that the phone lines would be opened at 8:30 as usual, emergency calls would be returned immediately and nobody was to tell a client the state they we were in. Chances are the client call would be for a problem they were having and we were to take care of their problem “as we would any other day”. If a client had seen or heard about our flooding from the news or somewhere else and asked how we were doing, they should be told, “yes, we had some flooding but we are just fine.” No staff member was to complain about their situation or a personal situation as our clients were calling during their time of need. Our problems were secondary.

Cappy had made a decision at high water mark that all carpet, desks, chairs, filing cabinets and other non-historic items or customer information that had been touched by water would be “thrown out” or given to a recycler. The mud and oil was too invasive to spend the labor to clean them and It would delay his “goal” of having everyone back in their usual space in 6 weeks, by October 10th.

So all staff were given garbage bags and only 2 bankers boxes. Instructions were to never walk up the steps empty handed and bankers boxes were to be emptied with contents put in place immediately at their new work area, forcing immediate organization rather than stockpiling of boxes. Incoming client calls were to be taken by the receptionist and given to staff as they walked by the receptionist. If they had a message, they were to call the client back immediately. On late Sunday Cappy had been advised that Rossmoor and Cranbury also had severe flooding. He had called Rossmoor advising that he was having ServPro call them as they were bringing in trucks of equipment and staff from around the country. Other clients were also being contacted by ServPro and other flood restoration companies as needed.

On Sunday and Monday, many friends and clients, including a large number of Peddie staff stopped in to offer any help they could provide. Allen & Stults knowing they had things under control, thanked them all but told them “others in town need you more.”

Allen & Stults staff and contractors worked twelve hours a day or more, seven days a week. New office furniture was immediately order on a “rush basis” by Charlie Sharman of Furniture Plan, Inc.. He said the factory promised delivery in four weeks. Furniture was delivered on October 3rd and fully installed by October 5th. Staff were moved back to their fully restored work areas on October 6th, just 39 days after the flood receded on August 29th; 3 days under their “target” of 6 weeks.

“Frankly”, said Cappy Stults, “the initial goal of 6 weeks was probably unrealistic. During the first couple of weeks I secretly was thinking if we pull this off by Halloween, it will be a miracle – but I didn’t let anyone know my thoughts. But by September 24th it started to look like we could do it. Thanks to a great staff, superb contractors and responsive suppliers, we did it, but we never want to prove that we can again!” He added, “when Dwight Eisenhower was once asked about how his battle plans worked out. He answered, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” I could not say it better.”

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