Insurance company says hail claims cost thousands of dollars

The recent hailstorms that have blanketed many parts of Iowa with rocks of ice as big as baseballs have forced the state’s largest insurer to call in reinforcements. Because of the high number of claims, State Farm spokesman Mark Yontz says the company has declared Iowa a national catastrophe area after the big storms hit Indianola, Manchester and Dyersville.Some 20 staff people have come to Iowa from other states to help with claims in the above cities and in Muscatine, Wilton and Washington. Yontz says the adjusters say many State Farm customers who had auto damage due to the hail are getting checks on the spot.There have been some 11-hundred claims and the checks are averaging 25-hundred to three-thousand dollars. State Farm insures about one in every four cars and homes in Iowa.