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Large hail damages homes and cars in Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tuesday night's severe storms caused hail damage in parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Some homeowners are frustrated as their roofs were damaged again Tuesday after previously being damaged by a storm in May.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Violent storms overnight on Tuesday are keeping roofers and insurance agents busy this week, from Maplewood, Minn. to River Falls, Wis.
But for homeowners, the storm feels like a bit of "déjà vu" because only months ago, on May 19, a larger storm left even more damage.
"A lot of customers got hit again, and we have to go out and investigate their houses to see if they did sustain some more damage," JTR Roofing sales manager Dan Strohkirch told FOX 9 on Wednesday. "They were getting to the end of their process with insurance, and then right when they think they’re done, it happens again; it’s very frustrating."
Strohkirch spent the day on the phone with homeowners who are now all too familiar with the repair process. He believes the effects of this latest storm were less widespread than its predecessor.
"I don’t think it’s going to be as widespread as on the May 19 as far as cost of damage, but it’s going to be a significant number, I mean it easily could get into the millions of dollars, I would guess," Strohkirch said. "It’s bruising the shingles or even at some points cracking the decking below it."
State Farm agent Paul McCarthy says in the wake of May’s storm, his office filed between 600 and 700 auto and home claims. He also believes Tuesday night’s severe weather was more spotty, but those hit by it were still hit hard near Lake Elmo and River Falls.
Many of the homes hit still had unrepaired damage from May, which is now making the latest repair process more complicated.
"They’re not going to get paid twice, they’re not going to get paid a comparable amount on two occasions, but they’re bound to get more money paid if there’s new additional damage," McCarthy told FOX 9.
Meanwhile, for those whose May damage has already been repaired: "They will treat it as a new separate claim subject to a new deductible, and they’ll just handle the claim on its merits," McCarthy said. "The deductible is going to apply on each loss, it’s not like medical insurance where there’s kind of this cumulative deductible that gets satisfied over a calendar year."