The Power of Preparation

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the Southeastern United States. While coastal areas are most often impacted by hurricanes, Helene had a different idea in mind, bringing her devastation inland and causing significant damage to unexpected areas of the region.

One of the hardest hit areas was Asheville, North Carolina, a thriving city in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western part of the state. When Hurricane Helene arrived, it caused catastrophic flooding, cutting off access to critical resources and leaving destroyed communities in its wake. Not only was the town deluged by the rising waters of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, mud slides from the mountains, where heavy rain leading up to the storm had loosened the soil, compounded the damage.

River Mill Lofts was one of these communities. Owned and managed by Capital Square, a national property owner with over 60 apartment complexes across 20 markets, River Mill Lofts’ riverfront location made it a prime target for Hurricane Helene’s raging flood waters. The community, which boasts 253 units in its four-story buildings, a clubhouse, dog park, and more, was in immediate danger on September 27, 2024. Residents were forced to seek higher ground and property managers had to act quickly to activate disaster management plans.

Jorge Figueiredo, executive vice president of acquisitions for Capital Square, recalls the immediacy of the devastation:

“Helene took a very unusual path, and a lot of low-lying areas of Asheville got hit very hard, including our property, which is right on the river,” Figueiredo says. “We were getting calls from locals onsite reporting that the water had started to come up rapidly. Inside our buildings, water rose from 3 feet to 8 feet in 15 minutes as a result of the city of Asheville opening dams. Water rose beyond the first floor in some cases. All the first-floor units were completely flooded, and people had to scramble to higher floors. It was a major catastrophe.”

Calling all resources

While a typical flood response for a single property would involve reaching out to local flood restoration firms to start the recovery process, Hurricane Helene was anything but typical. The storm’s impact was widespread, and the immediate aftermath was chaotic, with the entire city of Asheville impacted. Tenants at River Mill Lofts and throughout the city were left without water, power, and basic necessities for weeks. The need for resources greatly exceeded anything local organizations could provide. For Capital Square, that meant tapping into the strength of their team and their relationship with Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) to come to their aid.

“We have in-house management throughout Capital Square, so finding the right people to come to the property to address what was a truly dire situation was less of a challenge,” Figueiredo recalls.

“Within 48 hours, we had executives onsite, along with our MMA partners, Danielle Gemignani and Tim Broderick, and Risk Services claims executive Anthony Wiencek, who were all very much a part of the response team,” he continues. “Arriving onsite, we were met with a parking lot covered in 3 to 4 inches of mud, zero utilities, and 30 to 50 residents still there. Collectively, we were able to get a restoration team to the property within a week of the loss, and that helped us start to clean up the property faster. It was a huge, heavy lift, but it could have been a lot worse had we not shown up right away. We were able to help a lot of residents access resources early in the recovery process.”

Insurance innovation to the rescue

In May 2024—just four months before the hurricane—MMA created a proprietary insurance program for Capital Square. The policy written by Lloyds of London—the “Cadillac of insurance policies,” as Figueiredo calls it—was put to the test right away. Fortunately, brokers had the foresight to include relocation assistance for residents affected by disasters.

“Through that coverage, we were able to provide residents even on higher floors the ability to get their belongings out and to offer assistance for relocation,” Figueiredo explains. “That was not a common feature on most insurance policies. It was presented to us as a long-term plan, demonstrating a long-term commitment. The message was clear during this disaster that that’s what they were here for, and from a response standpoint, it’s been a very good experience. This was a once-in-a-1,000-year event, a hurricane hitting the mountains of North Carolina, but on the insurance side, it had a very good outcome.”

Danielle Gemignani, MMA senior account executive, Business Insurance, explains that the policy the agency created for Capital Square involved a lot of moving parts that truly demonstrate the collaborative and comprehensive nature of MMA’s client-centered approach.

“Moving Capital Square to the new structure had been in the works since 2023. Meeting with all the underwriters takes a lot of buy-in, and we were able to come together with teams in New York and London to put together a viable solution based on market factors and the company’s growth,” she explains.

This innovative coverage consolidated Capital Square’s three impacted properties under one policy, allowing them to pay a single deductible despite the multi-state damage—a critical financial relief given the $40 million loss sustained. The policy included flood coverage, which was essential but not common in the region, and featured a special deductible arrangement: If the flood deductible was exceeded, no further deductibles applied. Additionally, the policy provided temporary relocation assistance and covered the first month’s rent for displaced residents, underscoring a comprehensive approach to tenant support.

MMA recommended a dedicated adjuster, Ed Shaw of Engle Martin, who was embedded in their unique policy to streamline claims management. Just days after the floods, Shaw was onsite with his adjustment team. MMA’s team educated Capital Square on navigating the claims process, as this was their first major loss.

In addition to River Mill Lofts, Capital Square had 21 other locations in its portfolio that sustained damages from Hurricane Helene, although none anywhere near the extent of River Mill Lofts. Thanks to the policy’s one-week write-in clause, all claims related to the week of Hurricane Helene were treated as a single claim, simplifying recovery efforts.

“This story exemplifies how MMA’s proactive, creative, and client-centered approach adds an invaluable layer of support during a crisis,” Gemignani says. “From innovative policy design to hands-on claims guidance and ongoing recovery collaboration, MMA’s team stood as a trusted partner to Capital Square. The unique insurance structure not only mitigated financial exposure but also prioritized tenant welfare and operational continuity.”

Figueiredo echoes these sentiments.

“From a business perspective, I can’t think of something that shows MMA's commitment to their clients better than the fact that Tim, Danielle, and Anthony were able to get to the property. They’ve worked alongside us the whole time,” he says. “This is a complex claim, and the team has advocated on our behalf, paid a lot of attention to our needs, and put a lot of effort into making sure we’re covered at the maximum level possible. As the owner of these properties, it’s hard to think of a scenario in which we’d be better positioned for our business and our communities.”

A light at the end of a long recovery

Asheville has made significant progress toward rebuilding, and River Mill Lofts hopes to start welcoming residents back this summer—including more than 30 who were residents before Helene and had been patiently waiting out the renovations. Figueiredo is optimistic that the city and Capital Square are in the final phases of their recovery process and he highlights a few key takeaways from both an insurance and a community perspective.

“My learnings were two-fold. Firstly, this experience highlighted the importance of having a plan, having contracts in place, and the ability to act quickly. Our response here prevented a total loss. That early effort was key,” he says. “From both a personal and insurance perspective, the biggest lesson is to limit your liability exposure by communicating with the residents. On the personal side, by being present, being onsite, and providing as much information as we could to our residents, we were able to keep our residents safe and prevent frustration. From the insurance side, we had MMA guiding us to make sure we were not creating any more liability. All those things were taken into account—not only because it was good from an insurance standpoint, but because it was the right thing to do to help our residents.”