April showers overshadowed by costly April hailstorms

All across Texas, insurance claims adjusters are working overtime in estimating the damage to homes, vehicles and businesses caused by multiple rounds of hailstorms in April.

Four separate storms in the latter part of April are expected to result in 60,000 auto insurance claims alone, according to a recent Insurance Council of Texas press release.

“Hail and windstorm claims are still coming in from almost every corner of the state,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. “This map (showed above) showing hail, wind damage and tornadoes is startling because it shows the widespread severity of bad weather in Texas in just the month of April.”

Gregg Potter, the president and meteorologist for AnythingWeather, said despite the massive number of storms and damage reports, the state’s largest cities did not receive a direct hit.

“Although there have been some big events, mainly large hail just outside San Antonio, Houston, Ft. Worth, and Austin, we have yet to have one of these events with big hail actually move through a city center,” said Potter.

Potter predicted it would only be a matter of time before the larger cities get a direct hit.

The most recent hailstorm produced 11 tornadoes and softball size hail in a 100 stretch from Rising Star to Cleburne in north central Texas.

According to the press release, estimated losses from automobiles are expected to hit $65 million from this storm. Insured losses from damaged homes and businesses are expected to be even higher.

Other costly storms occurred west of Austin and north of Houston on April 18, east and south of Amarillo on April 22 and west of San Antonio on April 25.

The Texas Senate recently passed a bill aimed at cutting the litigation that follows after a hailstorm strikes.