Dallas

Thursday Marks One Year Since Costly Hail Storm

Heavy hail pounded North Texas on March 23, 2016

Thursday marks one year since a major hail storm slammed parts of North Texas and caused more than $1 billion in damage.

According to the National Weather Service, the March 23 storm was the costliest storm in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2016.

People in Plano took the brunt of the storm, with hundreds of homes and thousands of cars being hit.

Huffines Auto Dealerships CEO Ray Huffines said five Huffines dealerships were hit by the hail, with more than 3,000 vehicles sustaining damage.

“It took us from March until September to get caught up with all the damage, but eventually we did get caught up,” he said.

According to the Insurance Council of Texas, the March 23 event was just one of several severe storms that resulted in 2016 being the costliest hail and thunderstorm season on record.

“An estimated 500,000 hail claims were ultimately filed by Texas homeowners in 2016 with insured losses in excess of $4 billion,” the Insurance Council noted in a release.

Despite those results, a representative from the Insurance Council insisted that homeowners have not been hit twice, so to speak.

“I haven’t seen or heard of any homeowner [insurance] rate increases in the DFW area in response to last year’s storms,” Insurance Council's Mark Hanna said. “That’s not to say there might not be some because that area has been pounded over the past several years. Thankfully there are dozens of companies who offer homeowners insurance in that area, and if you see a large jump in rates with your insurer it might be a good time to shop around for better rates.”

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