Edmond Resident Still Fighting Insurance Company 1 Year After Tornado

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

EDMOND, Oklahoma -- While most families have repaired damages to their homes from the February 10, 2009 tornadoes, one family is still dealing with damage.

Complete Coverage: February 10th Tornado Outbreak

Taber LeBlanc built his dream home in the Oak Tree neighborhood in Edmond, but since an EF-2 tornado tore through the Oak Tree addition this time one year ago, his dream has become a living nightmare.

"We have concrete floors here that have continued to crack out and created a hole," LeBlanc said. "This hasn't settled all the way back down, which makes this door difficult to open."

Fortunately when the storm hit, his wife and their four children escaped without injury, but the damages are reminders that still rattle the family.

"With the uplift and the pressure that occurred down in our basement that when the trusses slammed down, it causes them to fail," LeBlanc said.

In an investigation, an engineer hired by the insurance company reported the LeBlanc's home has a 'structural safety concern.'

"Can you imagine that your house was literally sinking 3 inches? The insurance company came back and said 'Well, let's just brace these up,' and disregarded any engineering reports or even failed to talk to engineers as they did some of these repairs," said Kelly Parker, engineer hired by homeowner.

LeBlanc claimed the insurance company did not take any action until a complaint was filed with the insurance department and the reasons given to him varied.

"One, they said the tornado didn't come by our house," LeBlanc said. "Another report said that the winds did not exceed 39 miles per hour by my house."

And for the family, it's been tough to prove the winds were stronger since the closest official weather station is over 15 miles away, and it only measured winds at 38 miles per hour.

"It's just absurd, and with dealing with that I've had to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to just try and dispute unreasonable actions by them," LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc has since hired an attorney and an engineer to fight back what seems to be an endless uphill battle.

"I'm going to get what's paid and what's owed to me. And you know, we built this house to live in while our young kids grow up, and I'm not going to let anybody take that away from me," LeBlanc said.

A spokesperson for Travelers Insurance in Houston said they couldn't comment due to privacy guidelines.

LeBlanc and his insurance company are currently in arbitration.