North Texas body shops flooded with vehicles damaged in Thursday's hailstorms
NORTH TEXAS – Body shops throughout North Texas are being flooded with vehicles riddled with dents and broken glass after Thursday's hailstorms.
David Belew is one of the people who knows all too well the effects of mother nature.
"You can see all the little dents and dings," Belew said. "The windshield is crushed, and the taillight has to be fixed."
His vehicles have been damaged by hailstorms not once but four times.
"I was like, 'Not again,'" Belew said. "It's dumb luck. It's Texas, and it's going to happen every year."
His headache started Thursday night in Little Elm when hail pelted his car.
"Other than seeing things hitting the windshield, I really couldn't tell the size because it was coming down so fast. My wife told me, 'I can feel little shards of glass,'" Belew said.
Crews at After The Storm AutoworX in Plano spent Friday repairing almost a dozen vehicles with thousands of dollars in damage, and their work is just getting started.
"We're seeing some pretty heavy-hit cars comparable to last year's storm out in Allen," owner Justin Stricklin said.
Stricklin encourages people to take steps to attempt to prevent the devastating damage.
"I would try to take every precaution you can to put your vehicles away prior," Stricklin said. "Putting towels and blankets down doesn't really work. It's just going to make a bunch of small dents."
Insurance covered most of the vehicles that Stricklin and his crew looked at.
"With hail damage, it's considered an act of nature. Because you directly filed, your rates don't go up. It's because so many people in that zip code got hit and filed claims, insurance companies will do a market adjustment," Stricklin said.
Belew has to pay another $500 insurance deductible.
"Being disabled, my wife works three jobs," Belew said.
Belew feels fortunate he and his family escaped the storm unharmed while he waits for his car repairs yet again.
"They said an adjustor will be out today or within the next five days. Then it goes to the shop, and it will take three to four weeks to finish," Belew said.
About 40 more vehicles damaged in the hailstorm are scheduled to come into After The Storm AutoworX this weekend.