The Gazette

August 29,2007

SECTION:Casualty/Prop.

LENGTH: 633 words

HEADLINE:Hail Leaves $59 Million Dent in Insured Colorado Property



By R. Scott Rappold, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Aug. 29--Of all the days to park in the driveway, Thursday was the worst.

Bill Stohlmann has the dents to prove it, hundreds of pockmarks on his Cadillac Seville, caused by the worst hailstorm to hit Colorado in three years.

"This was the largest I've ever seen," said Stohlmann, who lives in northern Colorado Springs, near Briargate Parkway and Lexington Drive and had workers in the garage during the storm. "The entire car is dented."

Thousands of others in Colorado Springs and Pueblo are dealing with the same frustration. The storms caused $59.6 million in damage to insured property, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

The association said 5,200 homeowners and 11,000 car owners suffered hail damage.

It was the most expensive hailstorm to hit Colorado since 2004, said Carole Walker, the association's executive director.

While much of the heaviest damage was in Pueblo -- the storm "cut a swath across town," according to one insurance company official -- the north side of Colorado Springs also received a pummeling.

According to the National Weather Service, between 4:20 and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, hail ranging from three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches in diameter fell in northern El Paso County.

Car hoods were dented, roof shingles were splintered and windows were shattered by the golf ball-size hail. An average claim amount was not available.

"I was pretty sure, by the sound of the hail on the roof, this was going to happen," Stohlmann said.





Stohlmann on Tuesday took his car to one of the many catastrophe centers established by insurance companies and staffed by workers brought in from other states.

"I was just sitting there, thinking, 'My car is going to be totaled,'" said Brandi Aubuchon, a Pikes Peak Community College student who was at the school's northern campus during the storm.

The storm damage was scattered, and the hail appears to have missed most of Colorado Springs.

Said Aubuchon, "I was in one of the spots where it started to come down."

The largest hail was at the Air Force Academy, where 2-inch chunks fell. Academy spokesman Meade Warthen said some buildings had broken windows, and there was damage to trees and cars.

Insurance companies report that the majority of the damage was in Pueblo.

People with damage are urged to report their claims immediately and make an appointment to visit a catastrophe center, where they can file claims and get compensation.

While Colorado is known for snowstorms and wildfires, hail is historically the most damaging natural phenomenon here. The elevation and weather combine to make the plains a "hail alley," with more large hail than anywhere else in the nation.

Thursday's storm could be the most expensive natural disaster in Colorado since June 2004, when hail caused $146.5 million in damage in Denver.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or scott.rappold@gazette.com

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LOAD-DATE:August 29,2007