Wylie Residents Patching Up After Hail Hammers Homes
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COLLIN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - Today will be the first full day of cleanup after another big hailstorm pounded North Texas. Monday's storm was the third one to hit the area so far this spring and this time residents and businesses in the city of Wylie were the ones to 'take it on the chin'.
If you drive through neighborhoods in Wylie in the dark things seem kind of normal, until you start noticing all the cars and windows in homes with paper and plastic bags taped over them… a sure sign something bad has happened.
That something bad was a hailstorm that passed through Monday afternoon with a fury. As windows shattered in homes, people were sent scrambling for shelter and hiding in the safest areas they could find. House after house was pummeled. Roofs and skylights, damaged by storms just a couple of weeks ago, were hammered again.
Residents like Jim Burton said the sound of the destruction was deafening. "Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, you know just really loud. It just came in like more and more and the pieces [of hail] just got bigger and bigger. It's just incredible. I've never been through anything like this before."
Roofers had already staked claims and planted signs in yards showing what company was repairing the damage from the last round of hail. Many of those signs were pounded by hail, left looking as if they were used for target practice.
And no, it apparently is not your imagination. Officials with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth confirm there have been more hailstorms than average so far this year.
Has there been more hail this year in North & Central Texas? Stats say yes. Especially bigger hail. #dfwwx #ctxwx pic.twitter.com/apkqaSEtni
— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) April 12, 2016
In addition to the windows, shutters and blinds blown out by large hail, residents looked out to see ice piled up in yards and around the outbuildings and decks that it damaged.
With no way to truly secure broken windows, many people stayed up through the night, keeping a watch on their possessions and waiting for daylight to assess the damage.
Many people have insurance questions after this most recent hailstorm. Check out this video where State Farm Insurance spokesman Chris Pilcic answers questions about the claims process.
Damage from the storms was so significant that officials with the Wylie Independent School District announced that there will be no classes today. On the ISD website administrators said they made the move because storm damage was so severe that they, "... will not be able to provide a safe learning environment for all students."
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