In early April, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice placed four counties under a state of emergency just hours after a major line of storms moved through packing 80 and 90 mph winds.  Unfortunately WV Outdoor was greatly impacted by the storms as we wrote about on April 5th.

Thus week Insider reached out to WV Outdoor President, Bill Lodzinski for a recovery update.

Bill, we last talked in early April after West Virginia was hit hard by wind storms.  What was the final count on your structure damage? 

 We had a total of 12 structures affected by the storm.  4 of those were completely destroyed.  The other 8 were in various stages of damage.

How has the clean up and repair work gone?  

The storm hit on Tuesday, April 2^nd and we finished clean up by that weekend.   We had 3 contractors respond immediately.  Justice Signs from Glen Lyn, Va arrived that afternoon,   North Alabama Signs from Hartselle, AL and East Coast Billboards from Mertztown, PA arrived the next day. These contractors were amazing! We can’t thank them enough for their response time, their professionalism, and the speed and quality of their work.

As I mentioned, 4 structures were completely destroyed.  Unfortunately, due to nonconformity, we won’t be able to rebuild 3 of those structures.  As for the other 8 that were in various stages of damage, 6 have been completely repaired and the remaining 2 will be completed in the next two weeks.

Was WVDOT cooperative in allowing you to rebuild or replace?

We have a great relationship with WVDOT.  They did all they could to help us, but it all came down to the department adhering to current code.  Interestingly enough, of the 3 that were deemed nonconforming, WVDOT only cited us for one of those.  The other 2 were conforming per WDOT code, but not the City of Charleston’s.  Therefore, we were not allowed to rebuild those 2.  We also have a great relationship with the city of Charleston (if you remember, we worked with them on a successful Cap and Replace code amendment).  They also did what they could to help, but they had no choice but to adhere to current code.

Insurance has been a significant issue recently.  Any sense of whether the storm will have an impact on insurance renewals?  

Our insurance carrier has been great during this process. At this time, we are still finalizing our claim.  We still have to finish up the remaining repairs, as well as, secure final numbers on rebuilding the unit that was completely destroyed.   As we all know, this will probably have an impact on our insurance renewal.  Not necessarily getting coverage, but more from an increase in premiums.  I hope not, but I’m realistic.  On the off chance that there is no impact…drinks are on me!!

You had to miss the Kentucky IBO conference because of the storm.  Will you be at the October IBO convention?

It was tough missing the Kentucky IBO, but glad I was here to address more important matters.    I will definitely be at the October IBO conference (Knock on wood).  The IBO conferences have been and always will be an educational event enhanced by the exchange of great ideas among like minds.    I’m definitely looking forward to seeing you and our industry friends again.

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