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Owensboro reports widespread hail damage; insurance claims, vehicle and building repairs expected to take years
Summary
City staff told the commission that a March hailstorm damaged roughly half of city vehicles and most public structures, triggered three insurance claims, and that claims handling could remain open 36–42 months.
Brent Kelly, the city of Owensboro’s safety and loss prevention manager, told the city commission on May 6 that a March hailstorm caused widespread damage to city property and vehicles and has produced a prolonged insurance process.
Kelly said the city has filed three separate insurance claims — property (buildings/structures), auto (vehicles), and inland marine (outdoor fixtures such as decorative lights, benches and trailers) — and is working with the Kentucky League of Cities, local broker EM Ford, third‑party adjuster Collins and Company, and Maven Contracting to document and estimate losses.
“The city of Owensboro insured approximately 220 structures. Of those 220 structures, about 87% of them took some type of hail damage,” Kelly said. He told commissioners the city insures roughly 325 vehicles and that “approximately 50% of our city vehicles suffered some type of damage.” He also said he had personally inspected 163 damaged vehicles as of the morning of the meeting and that repair estimates for vehicles range from about $600 up to $22,000–$23,000 depending on the damage.
Kelly described samples and testing in progress: Maven Contracting is taking roof samples and sending them to Hague Research and Testing to assess whether roofs need full replacement. He said the city is making immediate repairs through Public Works for urgent items such as broken glass and leaks while larger estimates are finalized.
Kelly said the city’s primary reinsurer is Lloyd’s of London and that the Kentucky League of Cities is coordinating claims. He added that 22 scopes of work had been delivered to the city by Maven as of the meeting and that the claims process will be lengthy: “these claims that we have filed … will be open anywhere between 36 and 42 months from the date that the hailstorm occurred.”
Commissioners asked whether vehicles would be totaled; Kelly said none were slated for total loss at that time but a few trailers likely would be. He also said some public parks — with Moreland Park called out by staff — appear to have taken heavier damage, though final cost rankings were not yet available.
The presentation noted the inland marine claim covers items outside traditional buildings — generators, decorative lights and the fire department’s special operations trailer, which Kelly showed in photographs with damaged HVAC coils. He said smaller fixtures (lights, benches) are being repaired or replaced by city crews in the near term while larger building repairs await insurer scopes and estimates.
Kelly said the scale of damage will likely affect insurance costs for all member jurisdictions covered by KLC: “Our insurance is going up. They’re comparing this to the tornado of 2021 … they’re actually saying that this is more significant, based upon the amount of damage inside the city limits,” he told the commission.
The presentation concluded with a note that more estimates arrive daily and staff will continue coordinating with insurers and contractors to finalize scopes and begin repairs.
City commissioners offered public acknowledgement of the work by Kelly and Public Works staff and thanked the teams responding to emergency repairs and to insurance coordination.
