New Digs

As promised, our move to the 2nd Floor took place over the past weekend. The CAT team has a new home. It is spacious, airy, bright, and has proper cubicles for everyone. We are now all in one area, all 50 of us.
Work is progressing at a steady pace. Everyone has their own files to handle and adjusters to contact. Our “roadies” from the U.K. co-ordinate visits to sites with the adjuster assigned to the case and they are kept very busy.

The Sol claims system we use is very efficient and as Green as can be. The adjuster simply downloads the report to Sol and notifies us via email that it has been done. We then go into the claim and the report, including photos and inspection are automatically attached for our perusal. No printing required. Every bit of information is at our fingertips. And with over 3300 claims to manage, we are saving a lot of trees.

Rebuilding is going on, however in some cases it moves at a slow pace. Railway bridges need to be reconstructed over gorges, canals bringing water to the hydro-electric stations repaired, and vital water supplies restored. Nothing is back to 100% production yet but as each day passes, progress is being made. With over 1.5 million homes damaged or destroyed, there are still many displaced Chileans, and winter is setting in.

I was not fully aware of the power that an earthquake can generate, but I am learning fast. In Concepcion, which was near the epicenter, the entire city moved 10 feet to the west. The shift of massive amounts of rock also produced a shift in the Earths axis, enough to create a shorter day worldwide. Mind you it’s a negligible amount, 1.26 microseconds, and we would never notice it, however it is a documented change verified by NASA.

Scientists and engineers from all over the world have converged here to study the effects of the ´quake. Chile has had very strict building codes in place since 1950 due to their history of seismic activity. That is why the majority of high rise buildings, both commercial and residential did not collapse. Nature is amazing and frightening !

Adios por ahora,
Carolyn