Hail Damage Blog

Well, surprise, surprise! The hail damage reports for north Georgia were exagerated. There is some very scattered very light damage. We're talking three or four dime size dents per vehicle.

Oh well, Movin' on down the road!

I'm outa here. I'll check in and post what I find.

According to this article in the Pensacola News-Journal the hail damage reports for Pensacola and the surrounding area including Milton are true. t looks like the damage goes all the way from the coast up to Milton, FL.

"From golfball-sized hail that pelted Pensacola residents in the Cordova Park area during a morning storm to pieces of ice as big as softball that pounded Milton residents soon afterward, it was a day that left many scratching — and covering — their heads"

It looks like there were several dealers hit also!"

"Phil Marshall, a used car manager at Pete Moore Cheverolet in Warrington, said he couldn’t assess the damaged until the autos dried."

"The staff at Bob Tyler Toyota on Pensacola Boulevard in Car City hasn’t yet assessed the damage caused by Saturday’s hail storm, but Jackie Marquess, who works in Internet sales, said she heard reports of damage all along Car City. The worst of it, though, she said, happened in Warrington."

This should put a lot of guys to work!

The hail damage reports for Austin, TX are deffinately legitimate! Check out this slide show from KVUE TV.

From THIS story on KVUE's website the worst of the damage seems to be on the north side of town.

"Many cars across North and Central Austin were damaged. The hail tore leaves off of trees."

"Larger hail fell with such velocity that it broke through the windows of at least one North Austin apartment complex. "

It looks like there's probably a lot of good workable damage in town.

"Dime-sized hail fell in the parking lot of KVUE studios near Steck Avenue and MoPac. It left many of the vehicles in the parking lot dinged."

With storms still popping in the area, Cental Texas is looking good for a run.

It's hard to tell from this report in The Press Sentinel but it seems that there was a fair amount of large hail in the area.


This report is from Screven, GA

“The hail was so big. It was bigger than a tennis ball an hour after the storm passed.”

This report is from out in the county.

"Fire Inspector Huey Stewart, 54, said that this was the worst storm he had ever seen.

“I was driving down Nine Run Road, and my window was busted out by hail,” he said. “The best I can tell, the tornado came up from the Satilla River area."

"Though other parts of the county experienced large hailstones and heavy rain and winds, the Screven area bore the brunt of the storm damage."

This is from Screvin as well, but it is a bright spot.

"It made a path through town, damaging the town’s video store, Mary’s IGA, Wasdin Cabinet Doors, Screven Cabinet Shop, Boyette Camper Sales and several homes, but sparing Screven City Hall and LeCounts Autobody."

I know it doesn't sound all that exciting but there's probably some work in that area. GOOD LUCK

The SPC doesn't usually miss their forcasts this badly. I know that, like you, I was really expecting a nice widespread storm damage path to get things fired up for real. Oh well, it's still March.

OK, so I didn't get around to posting my interesting topics yesterday. The weather got me distracted. Here's what I've come up with:

Austin, TX hail report - I haven't been able to coroberate this one at all. Of course, it's hard to get any info on a Sunday. We'll have to see if anything comes to the surface in the next day or two. I'm sure there's not more than three or four hundred dent guys crawling the car lots today.

Alexandria, LA hail report - I can't verify this one either.

Bryan/College Station hail report - This one is legit. I found a good article here. According to this article the bad stuff was mostly on the south side of College Station. Hope you like side damage.

Boen said she grew concerned during the storm because the size of the hailstones continued to increase. At one point, the hail was blowing sideways, and she was sure the restaurant’s windows were going to break.

“It was pelting off cars,” she said, adding that hunks of ice smashed the windshields of two vehicles in the parking lot. “It was a scary thing to be outside. I looked out the window, and it looked like snow everywhere.”

That's about it for now. I'm sure ther'll be more info tomorrow, plus there is supposed to be another good round of storms tomorrow night.

Maybe I should load the truck.

Hey gang. I've got some things to blog about later today. I just don't have time this morning. Check back later and I'll have an interesting topic or two.

On a different note, check out this story out of Florence, AL.

Here's a few choice quotes.

Dingmasters is a business that specializes in damage caused by severe weather. For them, business couldn't be better even though their customers say their cars have seen better days.

Between jobs in the garage, Terry and his crews have been giving estimates all day. Using a special tool and precise leverage, these specialists delicately massage out hail-dings. The advantage to the technique it it's paintless. Dents like little miniature craters left by the hail-stones can be removed without having the car re-painted.

This reporter must owe this guy something. This is great.

Not all hail damage is visible at first glance, but it could be there. Andy terry says the best thing to do is take your car into a garage and scan a florescent light over it. If you have even minor hail damage, it should show-up.

I can only imagine what this did for his shop's business. You road veterans out there know how unusual it is to get this good a story in the news. They usually quote two or three body shops that tell them how bad PDR is and how the dents will come back and the paint will be broken and their car will be ruined and their pets will get run over and their children will have buck teeth and their neighbors will all laugh at them, etc., etc., etc., all because of Paintless Dent Repair. Oh well, good for him. Coverage like this benefits the entire industry.

I haven't been able to come up with any reporting on the hail report for Valdosta, Georgia. I did, however, find one official report that referred to the hail as "near Valdosta". That's never a good sign.

If you know anything and want to pass it along you can comment here or email me here. I'll either give you credit for the report or keep you anonymous. It's up to you.

Here is wrap-up of what I know about the Vicksburg, Jackson, Richland, MS hail storm damage.

The Vicksburg Post has a good article with some nice firsthand reports on the hailstorm and damage.

Martha Powell said she started praying Sunday night when golf-ball size hail began breaking windows at her home off U.S. 80.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said he was on a motorcycle on Interstate 20 when hit with hail "the size of ice cubes" that covered the interstate and median, broke out windshields and left a knot on his forearm.

"It started hailing before it even rained. We were being beat to death by it," he said.

Two Warren County Sheriff's Department patrol cars were damaged, Pace added.

Hail as big as baseballs was reported two miles north of the city, National Weather Service meteorologist Lora Wilson said, but most of the calls reported hail about an inch in diameter.

"We had reports from all over Warren County called in by the public," she said.

And the best quote of the story.

Lonnie Boyd of Vicksburg was traveling on U.S. 61 South when the first storm hit. He said golf-ball size hail damaged the hood of his 2002 Jeep Wrangler. He pulled off at a gas station on U.S. 61 North to count the dents

Insurance agencies across the area were reporting numerous calls from policyholders with damage. One reported about 200 calls this morning.

"We've had several calls from people who had their windshields broken - that's pretty serious. Hail will beat your car up, but when it breaks windshields - it's serious," said Rick Smith, agent manager at Farm Bureau Insurance on Grove Street.

So the bottom line on the Vicksburg, MS hail storm damage is this one is legit. The reports I've gotten, however, are that only a couple of the dealers got hit and they quit talking to anyone around 10:30 yesterday morning. I'm also hearing that there are already a number of retail shops open or opening. Imagine that!

The word I'm hearing on the Richland, Jackson, MS area is that this damage report was exaggerated. It seems that there is some sign of a hailstorm but very little real damage.

That's what I know. If you have anything to add or correct let me know.

Just got through talking to a trusted chaser on the ground who reported some damage in the Tallulah, LA area as well as some possible signs of damage around Vicksburg, MS. He reports, however, that the areas that seem to have received the most damage were fairly crappy neighborhoods.

This story from The News Star in Monroe, LA doesn't sound too promising.

Several areas of the region received nearly two inches of nickel- to quarter-sized hail.

It looks like this is the real thing. The Jacksonville, MS Clarion Ledger says,

"Hail, lightning and heavy rain scattered the state Sunday.

"It looks like some of the worst damage was in Vicksburg and across Jackson's metro area," he said.

"We've also had some reports of some significant hail and potential wind damage in northeast Mississippi in Noxubee County. We had a report of a tornado touch down in Macon."

From WLBT TV, also in Jacksonville,

"Across town, the sound was deafening. A torrent of hail, falling all over the metro area, damaging cars, roofs, and anything else unfortunate enough to be underneath it."

Here's a Skycam in Richland, MS on the north side of the Jackson metro. It looks like it's at the exact point where the report came from. I-55 and I-220. Is that a dealership? It'll be easier to see in daylight.
Good Luck!

Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama so far!

I don't have much to tell other than I here there are alot of guys working in NW Georgia and northern Alabama. Of course it's a February storm so the prices are pretty beaten down. I understand there's only a few companies set up in Blytheville, AR. That's a shocker. Looks like everybody decided to go the other way.

I know the report looked interesting but I just got through "speaking" with Andrea at Soapbox who reported..."Yep, we got hail. Not very big hail... bigger than plastic pin heads, but smaller than baby peas. Not a huge amount either. It melted pretty fast."

Looks like you guys in Georgia and Alabama will just have to tuff it out for a while longer.

Still waiting find out something about Texas.