Agencies flooded with hail damage repairs, claims

CNJ staff photo: Sharna Johnson Zane Brothers pulls dents on a car hood caused by a June 12 hail storm. Brothers said he has been busy all week with repair jobs from the storm.

A week after a storm dumped more than an inch of rain and pelted Clovis with hail, insurance claims and repair orders are still flooding agencies across eastern New Mexico.

While claims among Clovis’ four Farmers Insurance agents didn’t quite reach catastrophic levels, the number of damage claims is not a small one, said Ellana Hernandez, a customer service representative.

Hernandez estimates there were between 300 and 400 claims last week, prompting the company to bring in additional adjusters.

Hernandez said most claims have been for auto damage, though she has seen two home insurance claims for complete roof replacements.

Dollar estimates for the damage are not yet available, she said.

The National Weather Service, said the June 12 storm dropped .62 inches of rain in Portales, making it the fifth wettest June 12 on record, .67 inches of rain at Cannon Air Force Base and more than an inch of rain in Clovis.

But it also produced more than 10 minutes of hail.

“It doesn’t take very long. About two minutes will do quite a bit of damage on cars,” said Zane Brothers.

Brothers, owner of All Star Dents on North Prince Street, said his shop has been flooded with repair jobs all week.

“It’s been tremendous. We’ve probably looked at 400 cars,” he said, explaining he has a team of 15 technicians who have been working to get cars through as they come in.

Brothers, who travels to places like Hobbs, Carlsbad and Ruidoso to do dent repair, said the increased work has been an asset to his company.

“This allows me to sleep in my own bed at night,” he said.

Brothers said there was virtually no damage in the Portales area.

Roofer Carlton Reed said he too has been busy, with repair job after repair job coming in.

Already he estimated 400 phone calls have poured in this week and at least 150 roof replacement jobs have come in because of the storm.

“We’re just trying to get through them as quick as we can. We appreciate the patience,” he said.

Reed said he is trying to complete jobs where roofs are leaking first to prevent further damage in future storms.

Reed said while there were no holes made by hail in the recent storm, hail knocks the granules off of roof shingles, exposing them to sunlight, which leads to problems down the road.

The storm also reportedly damaged crops in the area.

According to data from the National Weather Service, hail causes $1 billion dollars in damage to crops and property each year across the U.S.