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“As I turned into my driveway, I saw black smoke billowing out of my attic window”

 That moment that 80-year-old Judy Brown pulled into her driveway was one she’ll never forget. The house that she was born in, quickly deteriorating after lightning struck. It was the week of spring break and Judy had been running errands in town with her granddaughter when she received a shocking call from her son. 

 “Lightning struck one of the trees at your house.” 

She says she has several pecan trees around her home and didn’t know how bad the damage would be from the initial call, but she was less than a mile away and decided to head back. “I looked and saw the fire going through my family room.” 

People started coming from everywhere at that point to try to do what they could to save the Brown family home. However, they were up against many obstacles. There was a fire hydrant right across from Judy’s home, but she says the connector was broken so they couldn’t hook up the hose to it. Luckily, there was another hydrant nearby in front of her neighbor’s house, but the pressure was so low they couldn’t pump water out of it. 

“I sat there and watched 80 years of memories go up it was just devastating.”

She watched as her family pictures, things inherited from her family members, antiques, tangible memories collected over eighty years went up in flames. 

“I can only describe it as a death, just like watching a part of you die.”

After calling first responders, they called their local Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance Agent. The fire happened on a Wednesday and she received a check from Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance by Thursday. 

“I was just overwhelmed to say the least that they acted so quickly.”

By Friday morning, barely two days after her house fire, Judy was asked to come to her county Farm Bureau office where she was given a check for the total loss of her home. 

“When you go through something like this the one thing you don’t need is to have to deal with an insurance company that doesn’t care about its people. Farm Bureau has shown me that they certainly care, and I am very appreciative of that.“

 She says she’s dealt with other insurance companies in the past, but at the time didn’t receive the treatment or understanding that she did from Farm Bureau. 

“I know that I’m in good hands, its Farm Bureau”

She says there’s not enough money in the world to replace her home and the memories lost inside, but her insurance policy with Georgia Farm Bureau helped replace the things she needed to carry on living. 

We never want to have to use our insurance, but are you covered if you suddenly encounter a loss like the Brown’s? To find an agent in your community visit https://www.gfbinsurance.com/contact