Hail, Tornadoes Pound Denton, Texas

April 4, 2014

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms north of Dallas, Texas, on Apr. 4 produced hurricane force winds, tornadoes and hail reported to be as large as grapefruits. Several communities are reporting extensive damage.

Severe storms first hit Denton around 4 p.m. with large hail smashing businesses, homes and vehicles. A second storm about two hours later produced more hail and wind gusts reported at 82 mph.

Karen Neal of Neal and Neal Insurance Agency in Denton said her office was near the worst part of the storm.

“We started to receive pea size hail and then it kept getting larger and larger until we had baseball size hail. All of our cars received extensive damage with dents all over and windshields and moon roofs shattered,” she said.

Neal said a second storm about two hours later produced golf ball size hail and lots of rainfall.

The campus of the University of North Texas and TWU got hit during the second storm. Both storms traveled across the northern portion of the city along Highway 380.

Other reports of large hail and high winds were reported near Farmersville, Frisco, Little Elm, Allen, Plano and McKinney. Large hail was also reported in Brown and Parker Counties.

Tornadoes were reported in or near the communities of Farmersville, Merit, Princeton, Celeste and Birthright. Some injuries were reported.

Sandy Laisure, an agent with the Coleman Insurance Agency in Farmersville, said her phone has been ringing non-stop with claims.

“We had golf ball size hail, high winds and a tornado near our high school,” said Laisure.

Policyholders are asked to assess the damage to their homes, cars or businesses and report the claims to insurance agencies or companies as soon as possible. Policyholders should wait for an insurance adjuster to assess the damage to their homes or businesses, before making any major repairs.

Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, said the full extent of all of the damage and the total insured losses won’t be known until a majority of the storm claims have been filed.

Source: Insurance Council of Texas

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