Residents in town of Erie prepare for possibility of another hailstorm
Residents in the town of Erie were preparing for the possibility of more hail on Wednesday night after a storm devastated much of the area late Tuesday.
"So knowing that the weather was going to be bad possibly again tonight, we decided, well let's throw some board up. So, we at least minimize some of the damage," Amy Crooks said.
Crooks and her family placed tires, plywood and mattresses on their vehicles, hoping to protect them from what was to come. She and her husband just purchased a new truck in April. They haven't even made the first payment on it yet.
"It's devastating, absolutely devastating," Crooks said. "There's not much that we can do about it."
Tuesday night's storm brought golf-ball sized hail. Residents say the destruction lasted over 45 minutes. The storm left dozens of blown-out windshields, damaged cars and property.
"It was relentless. It was the craziest thing I think I have ever seen," Jesse Dillon said. "I've seen tow trucks carry cars out of here all day. I've got two cars that are completely… probably totaled. I've got a lot of personal property damage, the grill, the smoker, all of that good stuff, it's toast."
Clay Zentmeyer was spotted vacuuming up broken glass from inside his car.
"Our car is probably totaled, my wife's car is. So, we probably got to look into getting a new car… that can be tough," he said.
But for Zentmeyer, there's a small sense of relief knowing his home didn't see any major damage.
"We didn't get any holes in the window... but yeah, and the roof is fine," Zentmeyer said.
Residents in Erie are going to sleep on edge, bracing for the unknown as they prepare for the possibility of round two.
"Every five years someone gets a hailstorm like this and it's devastating and you know we all pick up the pieces, and kind of go 'we live here for the beauty' and this comes with that," Crooks expressed.
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