Have you ever witnessed a hailstorm? They are fascinating forces of nature, and I have seen about three in my life.
In the south Arkansas town where I grew up, my dad was an independent insurance adjuster, meaning he worked under contract with different property and casualty insurance companies to work and settle claims made by their policyholders. Car wrecks and fires were his "bread and butter" so to speak, but the occasional storm was a big boon to his business. He carried a ladder with him to climb up on roofs, with roofing damage being some of the main claims to come from storms.
Not long after he had bought out a partner and gone completely on his own, a hailstorm hit our town. I am guessing I was 14 years old at the time. It was late afternoon and only my mother and I were at home, and it sounded as if someone was throwing rocks at our house.
The hail was golf ball and baseball sized, and it was remarkable. When the storm was done, I went out in the yard and picked up a few of the hailstones to put in the freezer so I could show my dad when he got home.
He had been in a nearby town during the storm and knew nothing about it until I showed him the hailstones.
His phone started ringing that night, and he and my mother (who worked with him) worked almost around the clock for the next six months settling storm claims.
Yesterday afternoon about 3 p.m. I was at home alone, working in my upstairs office, and I heard sounds reminiscent of those I heard more than 50 years ago. Rocks hitting the house, pelting the windows.
While it was not as intense as the one from my youth (there were golf ball sized stones, but most were the size of a large marble) this was a strong storm. I opened the back door and watched and listened.
I had parked my truck in the street because of a visitor in the driveway earlier in the day, and my car that I need to sell was also out. There is no damage I can see, surprisingly.
I have not been on my roof and will not be climbing up there, but plan to call my insurance agent to ask him to send an adjuster early next week to inspect for damage.
Here is a sample of what happened here yesterday:
4 comments:
YIKES!!! That is some pretty large hail. But baseball size? Honestly...something like that could kill a person!
I can't imagine having only seen three hailstorms in my life. I probably see three a year... or more. Fortunately the bulk of them are marble size or smaller but the vehicle I'm currently driving is a replacement to the previous one that was totaled in a hail storm where they were closer to baseball sized.
We seem to have hail far more often now than we used to. It's a sound I hate, but don't get too concerned if it only lasts a minute or two. (I think we've only had two roof replacements due to hail) Folks in town got hail earlier this week, but fortunately none at our house. My daughter had the softball sized hail last year that hit Hot Springs! She said it was incredible and I saw numerous photos about it.
Worst I have been in had to be close to baseball sized. I was driving in my S-10. Circa 2001. Hail started pounding the truck. Looked anywhere for shelter. I pulled into a church parking lot and parked under a big tree.
Didn’t help.
To this day I can’t believe my windshield didn’t shatter.
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