Parts of Dallas received hail that ranged from tennis ball size to baseball size. This is one of the reasons Texas has the highest home insurance rates in the country! When hail gets this big it shreds trees of their leaves and smaller branches, tears up roofs and destroys cars. Being in a car when this type of hail is coming down is very scary.
Last week, the wife of one of our State Representatives, happened to find herself in the car when the hail storm hit Dallas. She was on the phone with her husband at the time. He could hardly understand what she was saying due to the noise of the hail hitting the windshield, rear window and roof of the car, not to mention her screaming. The glass was threatening to shatter. In a moment of panic, she drove the car into the front year of a home, got out of the car and ran to the front door of the home.
She was incredibly lucky. While she was struck in the head by a hail stone, she was not killed. Hail can be lethal when it moves into this size range. The hail storm that struck Fort Worth in the early 90’s claimed several people’s lives who were caught outdoors. So if you are in your car and hail the size of baseballs begins to fall remember these five things;
- Pull off the road, turn your flashers on and remain as calm as possible
- If you can pull under an overpass, parking garage, covered delivery aisle (think CVS), do so
- If you can’t, do NOT get out of the car, you’re safer in the car than making a run for it
- If you have a glass sun roof, pull the shade covering but don’t sit underneath it
- Move as closely toward the middle of the car as you can
If you were in the storm last week, what did you do and what did you experience? Share that with us in our comments section or on the Facebook page for Wise Insurance Group.
