Hail from Friday's storms damages homes, vehicles in Collin County
ALLEN, Texas - Hail caused damage in Collin County Friday night as storms moved through North Texas, and now people are assessing the damage.
Sounds of hail could be heard hitting the rooftop in video taken by Mohi Sherza’s wife, who was home when the storm hit Allen Friday night.
"She sent me a video where we got like snowballs, pellets, golf ball-size hail falling downwards and then, when I came back, it was like a war zone," Sherza recalled. "Like almost every car had broken windshields."
His wife also told him the house sounded like it was going to cave in.
"I thought maybe it’s more important to stay inside. Before that, I told her to leave the car and she kind of got upset and was like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’" he said.
Homeowner Sheryl Baptiste was startled when hail stones rained down on her home.
"We were home sitting on the patio and we thought they were going to have a tornado or something. So it started lightly raining, and all of sudden, the skies that opened up and it started hailing like really, really hard. Really, really bad, with big chunks of hail, and it lasted at least for a good 20 minutes," she recalled.
Thunderstorms bring massive hail to Collin County
A severe thunderstorm packing monster hail caused damage in Collin County Friday night.
Saturday, residents in Allen were cleaning up the damage left behind by Friday's storms. Sherza said his damage appears only minor.
"I think it's going to be pretty minor, hopefully. We did get car damage in that Accord right there, it's going to be okay," he said. "The windows looked fine. I think some of the gutter might have been affected. We had people coming in all day knocking on our doors asking for inspection, but I think it’s going to be pretty minor, hopefully."
Others, like Michael Morawski, were not so lucky.
"[The contractor is] saying it's totaled. So, we'll have to replace the roof, and he's looking at other damages as well," Morawski said.
"The hail actually broke the batting of the shingle, and luckily for this guy, he has State Farm and that’s typically what people look for. Not only does he have a totaled roof, he has totaled gutters, his fence needs to be power-washed and re-stained," said Marshall Hamilton, with Uneer Roofing General Contracting.
Broken windows, damaged roofs and gutters, and badly damaged cars could be seen throughout Collin County neighborhood and apartment complexes.
Cars that were not under carports had windshields and windows shattered or cracked and dented hoods, roofs, and trunk lids.
"In all honesty, as soon as the hail storm hit [Friday], I was already here. Our goal is to present best customer service, inspections with no obligations from my company. My goal is to present the best information at the end of the day and then for you to make sure that you’re taken care of," said Shamez Habib, roofing expert with Next Roofing. "I'll just look at the window, you can see the different cracks, see the gutters, you can also tell if there's little dents on top of them."
Habib said the process of inspection is for the customer to provide the best address, phone number, and claim number, and then to have a roof inspection done. From there, it’s about waiting on insurance for the money needed for repairs.
At the end of the day, everyone is just thankful no one was lost.
"This is a sign of the almighty out there, and the most important thing is that everyone is safe," Habib said.