Countless cars were totalled and roofs were ripped apart as a result of an unrelenting hail storm that hammered Berks County.
The storm's impact is still being felt, and the damage is just as visible now as it was seven months ago.
Thousands of vehicles were dinged and pinged by tiny bricks of hail, and many shops are still backlogged.
"We're still fixing hail cars," said Trevor Glass, with Glass & Sons Collision Center in Reading. "We have quite a bit in the shop now and we have quite a bit scheduled to come in through January and February."
It's been non-stop inside the shop on Lancaster Avenue. For the past seven months, workers have spent six to seven days a week repairing hail damaged cars, which is on top of their regular customers.
It all started May 22, 2014. Storm clouds appeared out of nowhere and then chunks of ice rained down over Berks County.
"When it first came it sounded like a train, it sounded like a train," said Jeff DeWald, who spoke to 69 News moments after the storm hit.
In the 700 block of Reading Avenue in West Reading, windshields were decimated and a strip of homes had their front windows blown out.
"My front window is smashed and then I looked out and I saw my car, and I was like please don't tell me that's what's happening and it was," said Sarah Pepe.
Skylights were shattered inside the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, and golf ball sized hail could be found on streets and sidewalks throughout the county.
The storm also had some expensive taste. Four-hundred Mercedes and BMW's were destroyed at a dealership on Lancaster Avenue in Reading, which totalled more than $10 million in damage.
Catastrophe tents were set up at several locations to help make repairs, and paintless dent repair workers were called in from across the country to keep up with demand.
Ever since the storm, roofers and construction crews have been cashing in. 69 News revisited the 700 block of Reading Avenue in West Reading, and it's now almost back to normal.
"It took awhile, it took a long time, every roof had to be done and windows had to be done, it was crazy," said DeWald.
The work continues, and it doesn't look like business will be slowing down any time soon.
"I think we're still going to be fixing hail cars through the summer of 2015," said Glass.
from 69News:Home http://ift.tt/13Zp5ky
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