State insurance commissioner tours snow storm damage in Grand Lake

LANGLEY, Okla. - It's been weeks since the 2011 blizzard and storm victims are still dealing with the aftermath. One area heavily hit is Grand Lake.

The damage is widespread with docks caved in and boats under water after more than three feet of snow fell earlier this month.

The destruction is causing concern for many. "Our whole lives around here depend on this summer season and all the boaters and all that come in," says Shelly Sparks.

Sparks' business gives dock permits and also does dock repairs. Like many on Thursday, she had questions for the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which says it is there for consumer protection.

"We want to make sure they have the appropriate things they need to be able to put their lives, their building, their personal property back together," says Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak.

Doak says there wasn't a playbook for an event like this when he came to office several months ago, so he created the Catastrophe Response Task Force.

It started this January to better help communities with their insurance issues. The task force is charged with approving appraisers and understanding how damage affects the lake, among other things.

"But also just make sure the insurance community is responding appropriately and consumers are getting what they pay for," Doak says.

The commissioner says it could take up to a year before things are back to normal, but people in the community are staying positive.

"It's a long process and it will take us a while to get through it but we will because that's what Grand Lakers do," says Sparks.

The Insurance Commissioner says they've received more than 550 claims from the Grand Lake area. Reports are the damage could total $40 million.