Mike Pumo has developed a healthy respect for the power of Mother Nature throughout 27 years of insuring properties across Virginia’s Upper Tidewater region.
As a Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. (VFBMIC) agent based in King & Queen County, he has been there to help customers recover from wind damage and flood losses from many hurricane seasons.
“But spring storms can be very violent too,” Pumo said.
In May 2018, two derechos swept through mid-Atlantic states. A squall line produced a swath of high winds and damage roughly 470 miles long, from Ohio to Virginia.
“Those strong, straight-line winds lifted and completely flipped over one of my client’s machine sheds in New Kent County,” he said.
The original shed housed combines for the farmer’s row crop operation. It had been recently constructed and was “a very well-built” wooden pole-style shed.
“Unfortunately, the wind blew straight into the open end, ripped it out of the ground and flipped it completely over backwards,” Pumo said. He met the impacted farmer later that day to assess the damage. “I remember thinking, holy cow, I can’t believe it did that! The force of nature is crazy. And it’s not like that shed was poorly built. The wind ripped the poles right off.”
