First hail, then roofers pound area
Hail ‘knocked the heads right off’ emerging wheat crop
Staff writer
Insurance agents are being inundated with claims for damages from intense storms that carpeted Marion County with pea-sized to baseball- sized hailstones Thursday and Sunday.
Tree limbs pierced the roof and interior walls of the Lehigh assistant fire chief’s home. Hail knocked out skylights, security camera covers and exterior building stucco at the county jail and sheriff’s office. Vehicles at the state Department of Transportation and county roads and bridges shops lost windshields, as did many cars lining residential streets.
As much as homeowners want to make a quick cleanup, state and county authorities are warning them to resist hasty sign-ups with the swarm of roofing contractors — including possible scammers — knocking on doors and stabbing yard signs into the ground along residential streets.
“They’re filing claims right and left,” said Lori Fruechting, who estimated her Case & Son Insurance Agency in Marion had received about 60 claims by midday Monday.
Damage estimates have not been tallied yet by emergency management and agriculture officials, but anecdotal evidence so far suggests “the economics will be significant,” extension agent Rickey Roberts said.
Sunday’s storm in particular “did some damage to the wheat crop,” he said. “I can’t tell you just how widespread that is…but I’ve seen some wheat fields I’d call pretty devastated. The wheat was already headed out. The hail just knocked the heads right off of it.”
Marcy Hostetler, director of the county Emergency Management department, and the state attorney general’s office, recommend that residents and businesses make sure roofing contractor are properly registered before signing any contract or having work done.
Hostetler said that reporting any damage to her — at mhostetler@marioncoks.net — would help the county receive assistance grants.