Hail hits Carrollton neighborhoods overnight

Some North Texans woke up to find smashed out windshields and windows after large hail fell as storms moved through parts of the area early Wednesday.

The hail caused quite a bit of damage in cities like Coppell, Carrollton and Arlington. Some of the hailstones were as large as the size of baseballs. They smashed through skylights and windshields and dented roofs.

Early estimates say 20,000 homes or businesses were damaged and 25,000 cars or trucks. The total loss is estimated at $425 million.

Cynthia Schultz lives in a neighborhood near Sandy Lake Road and MacArthur Boulevard in Coppell. She woke up to the sounds of the storm and her daughter ran outside to try to move her SUV but it was too late.

“It was around 2:20 this morning. I thought someone was literally throwing balls or something at the house. My daughter is here spending the night with my grandchildren and I heard her screaming, ‘My car!’” she said.

Neighbor Candice Jackson said it’s tough because there’s nothing you can do for your home during a storm.

“You just stood there in your garage watching your car get beat up. And the hail was so large that literally it would hit the concrete but it would ricochet and it was hitting us and it still hurts. So it was kinda like you’re stepping back and back like, ‘Okay, I’ve never experienced it like this.’ So it was different,” added Candace Jackson, a neighbor.

The clean-up with broken glass was in full swing in Carrollton by midday Tuesday.

"It sounded like somebody had baseball bats beating the top my roof off,” said homeowner Pam Potts. “It was really big hail.”

The solar panels on one house were destroyed.

"Typical damage I'm seeing right now is roughly about the size of a baseball,” said roofing worker Brandon Hacker.

Car dealership Classic Buick GMC said the damage is among the worst they've seen. Surveillance cameras at the business captured video showing hunks of ice coming down with no mercy. The dealership believes 90 percent of the outdoor inventory was damaged. Sunroofs, car bodies and windows were all banged up.

"It takes a lot to smash in a sunroof or windshield and these things are just smashed in like tin foil,” said Charles Martin.

Businesswise it means lost sales amid weeks-worth of claims' adjusters analyzing the damage.

AT&T Stadium was on the edge of the hailstorm in Arlington. The Cowboys said the stadium did not get any damage. But people who live just a few blocks over weren't so lucky.

Leaves were shredded off trees and windshields were shattered.

"It woke me up it startled me coming down the trees were sideways there was golf ball up to grapefruit size hail was pounding on everyone's car,” said Ashley Newberry.

Jason Hogue just bought his brand new car four months ago.

"You can see where something big hit it right there, got hit several other places, like here punched through,” Hogue said.

He'll fix the windshield. The rest, he'll just have to let it ride.

“They're really everywhere. Must have been quite a deluge."

Arlington officials said there's a lot of storm debris, but street sweepers are taking of some of that. The serious damage wasn't as widespread as it was in other areas of North Texas.

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