Thunderstorm causes hail damage
Published March 14, 2006
Junior Courtney Beatty didn't know what to expect when it started hailing during Sunday's storm. She did, however, know to stay away from the windows.
"When we heard the force of the wind against our windows, we thought something could happen and the windows could break," Beatty said. "When it started to hail and the windows shattered, it was more loud than anything."
Beatty's house at 105 Antelope Drive had one completely shattered window and two double-paned windows with the outside pane broken. The wind blew the hail horizontally toward the north side of the house, where the three windows that broke are located, Beatty said. Her landlord boarded up the broken windows and is looking into fixing them.
Also, Beatty said her car's front windshield cracked and the turn signals shattered.
"I'm not that attached to my material possessions, and I was mainly glad no one was hurt," she said. "It is still a story to tell. There's nothing we would do differently in another storm because, I mean, one side of Columbia had a lot of hail, but the other side didn't."
The hail produced some of the worst car damage Tom Dampier said he has seen from storms in the Columbia area. Dampier is the owner of MAACO Auto Painting and Bodywork.
"The phone probably rang over 130 times today, and we've just been doing estimates all day long," Dampier said. "There is everything from minor damages to complete damage to the whole car. We've seen windows and windshields busted out, and we've seen plastic bumpers that we've never seen dented completely damaged."
Leah Brandt, general manager for Mike Kehoe Lincoln Mercury Jeep, said almost 95 percent of the cars on his lot were damaged by the hail. He estimates each car has thousands of dollars of damage, and the dealership will have a hail damage sale.
The Columbia Mall suffered damage to its roof and air conditioner, marketing manager Sonja Derboven said. It also has 70 cracks or holes in various skylights throughout the mall.
"We want to fix it as soon as possible so it does not become a dangerous issue and to prevent any leakage," Derboven said. "We haven't had this type of extensive damage this bad on skylights ever."
Approximately 200 city vehicles were damaged during the storm, including police cars, said Sarah Perry, risk manager for the city of Columbia. Perry said the city did not know how much the repairs will cost as of Monday afternoon, but the city's claims administrator is assessing the damage.
Overall, Boone County suffered little structural damage, said Jim McNabb, director of the Columbia/Boone County Office of Emergency Management. He said he contacted all the municipalities on Monday to see if they needed any assistance or had any widespread damage.
"No one has been displaced, and there has been no total demolition," McNabb said. "The sheer dollar amounts will be up there, but when looking at the overall damage, you have to eliminate anything that is covered by insurance so you are looking at the deductible amounts."
Ted Farnen, chief of staff for Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, said the storm is a big financial hit for the entire state.
"I think it does give a reminder about how dangerous and powerful storms can be and that storm warnings should be taken seriously," Farnen said. "Sometimes people hear the warnings and don't follow any precautions. In Columbia and Boone County, there is a good warning system, and people followed it well."
Boone County Sheriff's Department Major Tom Reddin said the county has not received many complaints of damage.
"We have had some reports about siding damage and windows broken out, but most of the structural damage is in the north Columbia area," he said.