Storm called ‘most expensive’

June 16--Repair shops and insurance companies faced a surge of claims from Odessans reporting severe property damage on Thursday, a day after a hailstorm widely described as the worst and potentially most expensive such storm in memory.

The latest in a series of hailstorms since Monday left the greatest damage. Months of repairs lie ahead amid accounts of hail the size of baseballs, softballs and even grapefruits smashing windows and ravaging roofs.

Odessa bore more of the brunt of the storm with more reports of damage than in Midland. But the total cost of the damage, while likely millions of dollars, proved difficult to project.

In the meantime, workers told of replacing windows at homes broken in the first storm, only for them to shatter again Wednesday. Auto repair shops were inundated with customers needing repairs.

So were insurance companies like State Farm, which sent a "catastrophe team" of extra adjusters to Odessa to help local insurance agents, some of whom anticipated 10,000 claims and damage costing millions of dollars.

"Most of what I've seen is the most severe damage I've ever seen from one storm," said Chris Wray, a State Farm agent in Odessa. "I've got hail going through peoples' roofs all the way down to the floor. I've seen light fixtures knocked off the ceiling. I've seen hail knock the skylight from its fixture and onto the ground. It's been a pretty bizarre day."

Damage was reported throughout Odessa, while the central and eastern areas of the city appeared to get hit the hardest.

"I would probably say this is going to be the most expensive storm in Odessa history," Wray said He was not alone in that assessment. At Permian Glass on Eighth Street, co-owner Shannon Gaylor said he'd only heard stories about hail storms as bad as the one that struck Odessa on Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon he estimated at least six more months before the Odessa company would finish its last job fixing damage from the hail.

"We probably haven't seen a hail storm this big since 1975," Gaylor said.

After the storm, Gaylor said they were guesstimating orders of extra glass. By 8 a.m. Thursday, Gaylor said he was forced to turn off his cell phone.

"I couldn't even carry on a conversation because the phone kept beeping in and people kept texting me," Gaylor said.

But Permian Glass kept accepting jobs without turning anyone away but asked for patience. Gaylor brought in family members including his kids and friends for extra help.

One of the workers was Jay Jared, who runs a business repairing home windows and buys his glass from the business. With a Thursday storm forecast, Jared said he decided to wait for it to pass before repairing any other windows.

"I just decided to come help them because I'm tired of putting in windows and them getting busted again," Jared said. "Customers don't like it either."

Even with the extra help, Gaylor said Permian Glass still saw so many customers come in with broken car windows that he struggled to pull anyone away for work on homes.

"We're actually going to stay open Saturday, and if we have enough windows for the cars, I'm going to stay open Sunday too and take care of the people here," Gaylor said.

Meanwhile, city and county officials asked Odessans with property damage to report it online at Odessa-TX.gov/stormdamage or flag it on social media by using the hashtag #ohail17. The government officials collected the reports of damages in hopes of showing the state the need to declare Odessa a disaster area, which could trigger state and federal aid.

City and County officials were surveying damage to government property.

The City of Odessa reported 81 vehicles damaged.

Of those 28 were police cars and seven were fire units, but Morton said the city was able to keep driving the damaged vehicles or use spares without disrupting city services.

"I've never seen hail that big," Morton said.

Last year was the worst in Texas history for hailstorms, with about 500,000 hail claims at a cost of about $4 billion, said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas trade association, which represents about 500 insurance companies.

But Ector County claims bucked that trend, falling to 500 claims totaling about $5 million from 1,400 claims in 2015 totaling about $16 million.

Hanna said he will be in town early next week to project costs of damage from the recent storms.

Warnings to avoid "storm scammers" who solicit work emerged from the Ector County Sheriff's Office and insurance company representatives. The Texas Department of Insurance also sent fraud investigators to the area to deter such scams in the wake of the storms.

Common scams involve people pretending to be from insurance companies and requesting personal information, or claiming to be a contractor sent by an insurance company, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Risks include subpar work, pricegouging and attempts to seek advance payment for jobs that are never completed.

Hanna offered tips for people who suffered hail damage to their homes and vehicles:

-- "Assess your damage as quickly as possible, and that's the first thing you need to do," Hanna said. He advised taking photos of damaged property.

-- Document everything: Keep notes of communication, dates, phone calls, visits, receipts repairs and paperwork with your insurer or building contractor.

-- Contact your insurance agent soon. "The quicker you can make a claim and the quicker you can sign up to get into an auto body shop the better," Hanna said. "People are doing this right now. You need to get in line basically." Same goes for claims of damages to your home. Some insurance companies like State Farm are treating claims of damages from any of the storms since Monday as one weather event. Not all companies do that, so it's important to ask.

-- Make temporary repairs to homes or cars. Cover broken windows in tarp or board them to prevent further damage. Insurance companies encourage that, but it's best to consult your insurance agent before paying for permanent repairs.

-- Use local vendors and beware of "storm chasers" who solicit work door to door. "People will get ripped off," Hanna said. "You need to avoid these people who are coming in off the street. You don't know them, they don't know you. You don't know the quality of work they do."

-- If you disagree with the amount of damage found by an insurer, ask for their supervisor and a second opinion. Consult reputable building contractors and body shops who can compare the costs of labor, materials and overall repair.

-- Seek multiple estimates from building contractors and get things in writing, from costs to guarantees and payment schedules. Don't pay up front.

-- Be patient. Insurance companies generally handle the most severe claims first, such as homes with major damage and cars that are not drivable.

Contact Corey Paul on Twitter @OAcrude on Facebook at OA Corey Paul or call 432-333-7768.

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