LV businesses largely unscathed

Kevin Rademacher

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.

Despite mounting homeowner losses from the powerful summer thunderstorm that drenched northwest Las Vegas on Tuesday, businesses in the area largely escaped unscathed.

At noon Wednesday, Children's Dental Care and Orthodontics, near Rainbow Boulevard and Gowan Road, was still without telephone service, but the only other damage was a muddy parking lot, said receptionist Stephanie McClellan.

"We're using cell phones to call and let people know that we are open," she said.

Dennis Guldin, president of Nevada First Bank, said about two inches of water poured into the basement of the company's headquarters at Rainbow and Washington Avenue. The water drained quickly, however, and damage was minimal.

"We were at ground zero," Guldin said. "We came out of it pretty good."

The United Artists theater at Rainbow and Smoke Ranch Road suffered no damage, but a flooded parking lot and treacherous neighborhood streets made for a slow evening at the movies, said manager Sylvia Montes.

"I understand it was a quiet night," she said. "We had a river right in front of the theater."

Similarly, The Studio on Wednesday still had a sign in the window announcing the cancellation of Tuesday evening's dance classes at the Alexander Road and Rainbow location.

Next door, however, Antonio's Pizza reported strong sales Tuesday night as flooded streets kept people away from their homes and kitchens.

"We did about $600 in in-house business last night," employee Gino Lee said while preparing lunch orders Wednesday afternoon. That figure is about twice a normal night's in-house take for the shop, but it came at a price.

"We weren't making deliveries," he added.

Peggy Dehl, a spokeswoman for the state Insurance Division, said more than 1,000 homeowner's insurance claims -- valued at about $1.6 million -- had been filed by mid-day Wednesday.

At that point, however, no business claims had been filed.

"That's not to say we there won't be some coming down the pike," Dehl said.

Gus Miranda, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance, said the company had received about 150 claims related to the storm, but no business claims.

The report was similar at Allstate Insurance. The company had received 12 automobile claims and 85 homeowner's insurance claims, but no business claims, said Joe Gacioch, an Allstate spokesman.

Of the homeowner claims, most were related to damage from falling trees and leaks associated with the rain, Gacioch said, adding that all of those claims will be covered by existing policies.

Six of the homes, however, were damaged by ground-level flood waters, and none of those homes had flood insurance, which is available through a program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Unfortunately, they won't be covered," Gacioch said.

Had there been business claims, they would be subject to the same limitations.

"One of the biggest misnomers is that the standard business or homeowners policy covers everything," said Bernie Trujillo, president of McFadden Insurance Co. of Las Vegas. "Those policies do not cover flood."

Some business owners also are covered by business interruption insurance, but Trujillo warned that those policies run parallel to a company's property insurance.

"If a loss is covered, business interruption insurance would follow," he said. "If a loss is not covered, business interruption wouldn't be covered either.