Severe storms. Overflowing rivers. Coastal flooding. Tornadoes. Hurricanes Sandy, Katrina, Irma, ad nauseum. These days it seems as if the news is always carrying some story or another about our unpredictable weather ‒ and its disastrous after-effects.

If Hurricane Matthew would have taken a more westerly track by just 30 or 40 miles it probably would have been the largest natural catastrophe the East Coast has seen since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

As I’m writing this article, Hurricane Florence is about two days away from making landfall in the Carolinas. According to CNN, if Florence stays the course, it will be the furthest north on the East Coast that a Category 4 storm has ever made landfall. Currently, the storm is nearly 550 miles wide, making it larger than the State of Michigan. More than 20 million people are in her path.

Storm season is here – along with the regular increase in restoration jobs heading your way. For many, Xactimate is one of the most essential tools for sketching, scoping, and estimating damages from virtually any kind of event.