Severe hail rips through the Highland Lakes

• Contributed photo In Marble Falls, large hail stones damaged resident Irma Kesselring's vehicle back window.
• Darlene Oostermeyer, vice chairman of the Falls on the Colorado Museum Board of Directors, shows the plywood installed in place of panes 'to keep out the birds' which flew through the windows broken by the hail storm Tuesday evening. Beverly Walker/The Highlander

In the wake of the total solar eclipse, Marble Falls area residents had to contend with a thunderstorm Tuesday, April 9, that manifested itself into a severe hail storm.

"[L]arge hail, damaging winds, and dangerous lightning will be the primary severe weather threats,” warned LCRA meteorologist Bob Rose.

By Wednesday morning, resi dents from Marble Falls and Mead- owlakes to Cottonwood Shores and

eastern Burnet County reported from marble- to softball-sized hail.

Reports indicated that the del- uge of hail stones launched just before dusk continued for several minutes in different locations.

Marble Falls resident Irma Kesselring lamented the event as, "Definitely most hail I've ever seen!” The storm took its toll on her vehicle, shattering the back window.

Community-wide destruction included shattered windshields, windows and roofs.

Injury reports in cluded at least one report of a teenager who received a non- life threatening head injury from a hail stone at a strip mall off U.S. 281 in Mar ble Falls.

In Marble Falls, the Falls on the Colorado Museum suffered “As many as 20 panes were broken – upstairs and downstairs,” Darlene Oostermeyer, chair woman of the musuem board, told The Highlander April 11. “The birds were flying in."

She added that a crew covered the panes with plywood pending repair. In eastern Burnet County, Faith Academy officials reported hail damage to a number of vehicles parked at the private school as well as other property damage at the site.

Residents spent much of the morning of April 10-11 dealing with insurance inspectors, compiling roof estimates and searching for repair contractors for vehicles and home windows.

An overall damage figure is pending; howev - er, officials predict com bined damage and repair estimates could reach into the millions of dollars.

As predicted by Rose, the event would “taper off by midday Wednesday as the trough to our west finally moves off to the northeast.”

“Texas storms can be scary. My house looks like artillery shells battered it, the cars are busted, but! ...” said Chanda Hall Schnitzler of Horseshoe Bay. She reported “softball-size” hail.

“We are all okay,” she said. “That’s the most important part.”

Beverly Walker contributed to this report.