It Figures

10

The age of a girl who died in a 2006 tornado in Rogers, Minnesota and whose family is blaming the homebuilder, not the tornado. In a wrongful death suit, the family of Jaymi Wendt claims Jaymi’s death might have been prevented if the house’s foundation was more solid. Monarch Homes and two other companies are listed as defendants. The tornado injured six other people and damaged 340 houses.

$30 Million

The amount in bonds that the Iowa Board of Regents is considering issuing to help with flood-recovery at the University of Iowa. The school suffered more than $230 million in damage during widespread June flooding. Officials say if the recovery and mitigation bonds were issued for repairs, the university would later be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The university’s portion of the damage has been estimated at $25 million with the rest coming from both FEMA and insurance. While the insurance settlement was paid up front, FEMA’s reimbursement can take months.

$17 Million

The amount that the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation says it recovered in 2008 for consumers filing insurance, security, bank, credit union and mortgage company complaints. About $6.8 million involved insurance and securities products and the remaining $10,704,754 involved mortgage and banking products.

424

The number of people who died in highway crashes in Minnesota in 2008, the fewest number in 64 years. That was a decline of 16 percent from the 510 people killed in 2007.

Safety Commissioner Michael Campion attributes the drop to increased seat belt use, enhanced patrols, road safety improvement and higher gas prices.

37

The number of states that have passed laws requiring that all cigarettes sold in their states be fire-safe. Nebraska is not among them, but it could join that list if a bill introduced this month is approved. Even the tobacco lobby supports the measure since so many states have passed similar laws. David Sutton, a spokesman for Philip Morris USA, said the company makes all of its brands available in the fire-safe form in states that have such laws.