Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance Lends Helping Hand After Hurricane Helene

As Hurricane Helene devasted states in the Southeast, Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance staff were already preparing to help sister Farm Bureaus in affected areas. Following the September 2024 storm, Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance reached out for claims support, and the plan to assist was set in motion.

“By the time Hurricane Helene formed on Sept. 24, we had a plan in place to provide on-site adjusters and remote help,” says Jackie Jones, IFBI senior manager of property claims. “By Sept. 27, we were off and running, assisting Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance members by phone, preparing estimates based on photos and helping with emergency needs like shelter and temporary repairs.”

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Jones adds that this level of assistance is not unique among the Farm Bureau family when disaster strikes. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance has received claims assistance in the past, and the company has provided it to fellow Farm Bureaus.

“Farm Bureaus in Southern states endure many hurricanes and hail events,” Jones says. “Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina have received our help many times over the past five years.”

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Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance responded by sending two property specialists to Georgia for two-week stints to help with claims on the ground. Additionally, the 60 members of Jones’ team assisted remotely until December 2024. In total, the two property specialists on the ground assisted with about 60 claims, and the staff working remotely in Indiana helped manage 5,275 claims.

Brett Parker is one of the two Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance property specialists who spent time on-site in Georgia after the storm. Parker is no stranger to this type of response. He helped process claims in similar situations after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Michael in 2018.

“It was an exhausting but fulfilling process to instill confidence that the claim process was going to go smoothly,” Parker says.

Parker managed farm and church claims during his two weeks in Georgia. He says structural damage made up the bulk of his cases. While he was there to assess damage, Parker says it wasn’t always the repairs that were the top concern of the people he met. Parker believes part of his job is finding out what people need in the moment, like when he helped a widow wrangle her cattle that got out of the fence.

“Helping with those cattle meant a lot to her in that moment,” Parker says. “It’s important in these situations to have the people skills and situational awareness to meet needs and satisfy all parties quickly and accurately.”

Nearly one year after the devastating storm, there are still opportunities to help. Learn more at fb.org/issue/hurricane-helene.

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