South Texas Storm Racks Up Millions in Claims

Hurricane force winds, heavy rains and baseball size hail struck the northern part of McAllen, Texas, on March 29 causing extensive damage to homes, cars and businesses. The damage is expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars in insured losses, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. Hail was said to have piled up in four-foot drifts in some places. The wind gusts blew air conditioning units off of businesses and the hail knocked out the windows on vehicles, the sides of homes and commercial property. Trees were stripped of their leaves. One BMW dealership in McAllen reported heavy damage to approximately 80 new cars on its lot.