CARROLLTON, Texas — After baseball-sized hail dumped on some areas in North Texas early Wednesday morning, residents and homeowners are racing to clean things up.
All the while, auto shops, roofers, and insurance adjusters are trying to keep up.
Damage was reported from Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant counties. The largest hail reports were reported from Coppell and Carrollton per the National Weather Service.
Broken car windshields, roof skylights, and solar panels could be seen in several neighborhoods.
Dents covered many cars, and some holes were even poked through roof shingles.
According to the Insurance Council of Texas—20,000 structures were damaged and 25,000 vehicles were damaged.
The council said that the damage could cost around $425 million.
Roofers were already going door-to-door in some Carrollton neighborhoods, eager to earn new business.
Ryan Warrum of Midtown Roofing said he had already repaired 5 to 6 roofs by the time WFAA talked to him.
“I have about 4 or 5 more to get to before the sun goes down,” Warrum said.
Still, the damage is a nightmare for insurance agencies.
Bill Wescoat said he can’t get someone to come to look at his damaged home until next week.
“Just trying to hold my temper and just say yeah whenever you can do it—let’s do it,” Wescoat said.
For Patrick Mcloughlin, Wednesday’s storms meant ruining his brand-new car.
He just bought a Subaru two months ago and woke up to its front and back windshields busted. The side mirrors even got knocked off.
“It was my fun little toy, but it’s gone now,” Mcloughlin said. “I took it to the dealership and I may not get it back for a month.”
Auto dent and glass repair shops are swamped too. Xtreme Auto Glass Pros told WFAA that it fielded over 200 calls Wednesday, and the earliest it could get anyone in was next Monday.
Mcloughlin said he’s just taking things in stride, after all—it’s hard to know when mother nature is going destroy your new car.
“Just not trying to get too overwhelmed or too anxious,” he said. “There’s plenty of other people around here going through the same thing we are.”