BA Man Fighting For Insurance Money

By Jennifer Loren, News On 6

BROKEN ARROW, OK -- An EF1 tornado blew through Broken Arrow earlier this week and some believe that's what toppled one man's home construction project.

But the man is hoping it wasn't the tornado that caused the damage because if it was, his insurance won't kick in.

Joel Kinsch is looking at a heap of rubble that used to be his dream home and warning other homebuilders to check their insurance policies.

Several miles east of Broken Arrow there's a whole lot of peace and quiet.

That is until Monday's storm came through and turned one man's future dream home into a pile of bent and broken dreams.

"This center section which is all this red steel was the center portion of the barn," said Kinsch.

Kinsch was building an eco-friendly barn-shaped house for his family. His contractor was just making some progress when suddenly all his hard work was folded like a deck of cards.

"I just couldn't believe it. I drove up, looked at it and said, 'Well here we go. Let's start over,'" said Kinsch.

According to Kinsch's contractor it was a tornado that toppled the project. He says that's considered an act of God and doesn't qualify for his insurance coverage. But Kinsch says not so fast.

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case. It was probably straight line winds, high winds that came through it. The problem is that it didn't have enough structure on the outside of it to hold it in place," said Kinsch.

Now Kinsch is left with two messes on his hands, the one you see here and the one with his contractor. The burden lies with Kinsch to prove straight line winds were the culprit and to get his contractor to file a claim. But sure as that Oklahoma wind storm, he's up for the challenge.

"The older you get the more you take these things in stride. You let them eat on you too much you just get ill," said Kinsch.

Meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have already been out to the property. They're working up a full report, but told Kinsch they believe straight line winds caused the damage and he should be covered.

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