One of the tornadoes confirmed after the April 17 severe weather outbreak was an EF1 that moved through Roscoe and directly through our backyard.
The tornado left little of the approximately 355 feet of fencing around our Roscoe home.
Much of the fence had been pulled from the fence line and scattered across our yard and neighboring yards. A piece believed to have come from the fence pierced an exterior wall and entered a second-story bedroom.
The few sections that remained standing were not enough to contain our two senior dogs, enclose the pool, or give our children and young grandchildren a secure place to use the yard.
In the days after the storm, family, friends, and neighbors helped one another clear debris, recover lost items, trim and remove trees that were broken or uprooted, and even shared meals while the clean-up took place. Many were helping others while dealing with damage at their own homes.
We expected replacing that much fencing to be expensive. We did not expect depreciation to reduce the insurance payment as much as it did.
Although the fence was covered under our homeowners insurance policy, the insurance company estimated it was about 20 years old and applied 80% depreciation. Actual cash value is the replacement cost after depreciation is deducted, and sharply reduces the payment on an older fence…