(Radio Iowa) – Tornadoes and other types of severe weather can make life hard on property owners, but also on the companies that insure them. The Insurance Journal says most home insurance companies paid out more in claims in Iowa last year than they collected in premiums. In some cases, the so-called “loss ratio” was well over two-to-one. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen says the last few years have been especially difficult for mutual insurance companies, which are owned by policy holders and write most of the policies in Iowa.

“They’re able to write business in our state based upon obtaining reinsurance,” Ommen says, “and the reinsurance rates have just really gone up dramatically, since really the 2020 derecho, and the hail storms that we’ve had in very recent years.” Ommen says national carriers have more access to capital, and are able to spread risk across a larger geographic area. Just a few years ago, he says Iowa led the nation in affordability for homeowner’s insurance, but that changed with the derecho. Ommen encourages property owners to contact their insurance agent and review policies every year, so they aren’t caught by surprise when a storm causes damage and the insurance payout isn’t what’s expected.

“So many times, the complaints that come to our office are driven by that idea that ‘I didn’t understand,’ and that’s why it’s critically important to understand what is the coverage,” Ommen says, “to do an annual review of your coverage, to know and understand what that means.”

The trade publication Insurance Journal says nationally, the number of insurers entering liquidation or receivership in 2023 was close to twice the 2022 level. Many of those companies provided reinsurance, essentially coverage for insurance companies.

(Updated) – The former fire chief in Pacific Junction is accused of stealing at least 40-thousand dollars from the charity fund for the town’s fire department. Sixty-seven-year-old Ernie Gencarelli, Junior, is charged with first degree theft, money laundering and ongoing criminal mischief. Gencarelli served as fire chief for about five years, from 2018 until he resigned in May of 2023. Mills County Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Ripperger says in late 2023 the city’s new fire chief came forward with concerns.

“He had noticed some unusual charges on their Pacific Junction Fire Responders Association charity account. This wasn’t an account that was tied to the city. This was a straight charity account for the fire department,” Ripperger says. “He had noticed some charges at local restaurants and and things that didn’t seem appropriate.” The funds in the account came mostly from department fundraisers – like pancake feeds or cookouts – as well as donations from local residents. Over the course of his five-month investigation, Ripperger says he uncovered about 40-thousand dollars worth of inappropriate charges.

“Cash withdrawals, personal purchases, loan payments, even things such as a chest freezer and diapers,” Ripperger says. The Pacific Junction Fire Department was officially disbanded last December, when all of its members resigned. Fire calls in the community are now handled by Glenwood’s fire department. Mills County Attorney DeShawne Bird-Sell says the alleged misconduct is disheartening because the money all came from donations.

“These were all volunteer firemen and women. These were the individuals that were here on their own time. These were all the individuals that made all the fundraising that put all of these funds into these accounts,” she says, “and one of their own took them and utilized them for his own purposes.” Ripperger says the charity account lacked the kind of oversight that could have prevented the former fire chief’s alleged actions. “He was the president, secretary and treasurer of that charity fund,” the deputy said, “and when I’ve talked to other members of the department, (they said) he would just give a balance update, so there weren’t checks and balances in place at the time.”

Gencarelli faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on the felony charges.

(Radio Iowa) – Three tornadoes hit rural areas of southwest Iowa’s Adams County nine days ago. Adams County Emergency Management director Bill Lyddon says his best guess at this time is over 70 farm buildings were damaged or destroyed.  “Several grain bins, probably more than a dozen of those that have had major damage or were destroyed. There’s a lot of damages other than residences out there,” Lyddon says. “We haven’t even looking at machinery and vehicles yet, but I know we’ve got a lot of them, too.”

The first tornado entered western Adams County at about 3 p.m. May 21st. A second tornado was spotted in Adams County a few minutes later and that tornado stayed on the ground for 44 miles, eventually destroying part of Greenfield in neighboring Adair County. A third tornado was spotted south of Highway 34 in Adams County, about 10 miles from Corning.

“We had quite a bit of damage from all three tornadoes. We’ve had lots of volunteers and they pretty much take care of themselves here in the county and they went to the places that had the most damage or any damage and they’ve been working since,” Lyddon says. “It’s going to be a long time, but they’re going to keep cleaning and fixing things up and hopefully we’ll get it done eventually.”

None of the three tornadoes passed through any of the cities or towns in Adams County, but Lyddon says it appears eight homes in rural areas of the county were either destroyed or have major damage from the May 21st tornadoes. “They’re going to have to decide what to do with those,” Lyddon says, “whether they’ll be taken down and replaced or ry and fix ’em.”

A Shenandoah woman was killed in one of the Adams County tornadoes when the vehicle she was driving was blown off Highway 148. A GoFundMe account has raised over 11-thousand dollars to help the family of 46 year old Monica Zamarron’s family cover funeral expenses.

(Radio Iowa) – For the past month students in a southeast Iowa school were not allowed to use their cell phones during school hours and their principal expects the policy to resume when the next school year starts August 23rd. Mike Davis, the principal of Evans Middle School in Ottumwa, says cell phone use was harming students’ mental health and diverting their attention from their classes.

“I felt like taking the cell phones away would take that focus away on the negativity of what’s going on and have them focus a little bit more on what’s going on in our building,” Davis says. Davis says the teachers noticed better behavior, longer attention spans, and more positive interactions during free time.

“You know the real reason why we’re here — it’s not about the cell phones,” Davis says. “It’s to get a quality education.” Davis acknowledges students didn’t appreciate the policy when it was announced, but Davis says cell phones were a distraction during the school day.

“When a kid feels like they can’t live without their phone or be without their phone,” Davis said. “I think that becomes more of an issue than a kid having their phone.” Davis hopes other schools consider a no-cell phone rule during school hours. “I would love to see other schools start to bring their students back to being students,” Davis said, “to being young adults, and learning to interact with others.”

Axios reported last week that Hoover High School in Des Moines will be a phone-free zone when school starts in the fall, to address anxiety and depression among students. Researchers say symptoms of depression and suicides among teens began to rise in 2012, just about the time polling began to show teens who had a phone admitted they used it for several hours a day. About 90 percent of American teenagers have a cell phone.