Hail storm in Georgetown damages homes, vehicles

GEORGETOWN, Texas - Car windows, like one sedan on Rosedale Boulevard in Georgetown, were shattered by hailstones the size of baseballs. A few blocks away, the entire back window of another car was smashed in. The impact covered a child seat with shards of glass.

The hail didn’t make it through the windshield of an SUV owned by a young man by the name of Hunter, but the icy projectiles left behind several cracks. Hunter said he initially had the SUV at a covered parking lot.

"And then part of the storm came by and thought it was all over, so I went and got it, then pulled it back and the next thing you know it’s taken this kind of damage, so it’s very unfortunate," said Hunter.

The storm hit the northwest side of Georgetown shortly before midnight Wednesday and continued into Thursday morning. Video was taken by Mario Hernandez moments after he moved his car into the garage.

"I come out and it was just, started pouring down. Big chunks," said Hernandez.

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Janette Brown, who lives about two miles away on Primrose Trail, also recorded video. The video showed hailstones bouncing off Brown's back patio.

"It was vicious, it was loud, it was the loudest storm, I've never seen hail that size," said Brown.

Some vehicles were covered but they could not be fully protected. In the daylight, you can see how the hail ripped through tarps that covered a truck and a sports car. About 10 patrol cruisers from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office were hit.

Officials with the City of Georgetown say around 40 police cars were also hit, as well as several other city vehicles. The hail ranged in size from a ping-pong ball to baseball.

Packs of ice piled up, and residents say it didn’t melt away until after 8 in the morning. It appears that just one storm cell dropped hail for almost three miles from Sun City, down Williams Drive to I-35. Leaves from trees were stripped off and rooftops were pounded.

"It sounded like there was rocks hitting the shingles, and when I got outside there were pieces of the shingles, little pieces, not big, falling with it," said Maryjessie Friend.

The sustained attack resulted in a lot of phone calls to local roofing companies. "Oh, they started last night, man. I was trying to go to bed and they kept a buzzing," said roofer Garrett Carey.

A full damage assessment may not be completed until later this week.