Large Hail Again Causes Damage in North Texas Cities
For the third time in a month large hail and damaging winds pummeled north Texas causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, the Insurance Council of Texas reported.
The storms caused the most damage in cities just north of Dallas where roofs were blown off and 4-inch hail demolished cars and homes.
The cities of Plano, Wylie, Frisco and Allen were hardest hit. Many of these city’s homeowners were also hit by the March 28 hailstorm that plowed through the area. Last night’s storm traveled more than 100 miles from Archer City to Longview passing just north of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Kylie Reising, a partner in the Wylie Insurance Agency in Wylie, said softball size hail came crashing through her roof.
“It was bad. We had hail knocking holes through our ceiling,” said Reising. “Our house was full of hail and water.”
Reising said a nearby school in Wylie received the same fate causing school officials to close the Wylie school system today.
A March 16 hailstorm caused an estimated $600 million insured losses to property in Fort Worth and Arlington.
Claims are still coming in from the March 23 hailstorm that may hit $700 million in losses.
In each storm, more than 40,000 vehicles were damaged. Last night’s hail storm was so destructive that many vehicles were totaled and homes and apartment complexes were heavily damaged.
“Insurance companies already had catastrophe teams in place to handle the thousands of claims coming in from the two previous storms,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Texas. “There is no doubt that additional insurance adjusters will be called in to handle the aftermath of this devastating storm.”
According to the National Weather Service Texas led all other states with 783 hail events last year and recorded a record 240 tornadoes.
Source: The Insurance Council of Texas
Related:
- Update: With Property Claims Added, North Texas Hail Damage May Reach $600M
- Texas Regulators: Mid-March Hail Storm Was Insurance ‘Catastrophe’
- Hailstorms Pummel North Texas, Again
- 2nd March Hailstorm in North Texas Deemed an Insurance Catastrophe