Windstorm Association Denied Harvey Claim Due To Clerical Error

On Thursday, Mary Ann Heiman was at the site of her Port Aransas bait shop, which nine months ago had been flattened when Hurricane Harvey roared across the causeway. Nothing had remained after the Category 4 winds passed. But Thursday was a good day. “Right now, they’re pouring my foundation,” she said. “I’ve waited a long time to see this.” Until recently, it seemed as though this day might not come at all. Heiman’s application for a loan from the federal Small Business Administration had gotten hung up in endless tangles of red tape. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association had denied her claim, even though she’d purchased a policy covering $60,000 worth of coolers and other equipment needed to sell the shrimp, mullet and other bait that anglers deploy in their pursuit of the Texas coast’s rich lode of redfish, trout and drum.