Monday’s hailstorm pelted south metro homes and businesses hard in a seasonal surprise that had auto dealers and insurance adjusters scrambling.
“There was widespread damage running the gamut from piled-up hail to pockets of catastrophic damage,” Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, said Tuesday.
She said it’s still too early to determine the magnitude of damage and resulting claims, but it’s unlikely the storm will be even close to record-setting.
“At this point, it’s not anything unmanageable,” she said. Some insurance companies were deploying extra adjusters to handle claims.
The metro area has been hit with that started in late May and recurred throughout the summer.
Auto dealerships along Arapahoe Road in Centennial bore the brunt of damage Monday.
“We got our share and more,” said Herm Brocksmith, president and general manager of Kuni Honda. “It got real dark, and then the sky just opened up. It hit everything on our lot, about 500 to 600 vehicles.”
Damage ranged from broken windows to dented body panels.
, Kuni will hold a hail-damage sale. Customers will be offered the choice of having the dealer repair damage or getting a discount on as-is models.
Fall hailstorms in Colorado are rare but not unheard of.
“June and July are the peak months for hail, but we’ve definitely had damaging storms even into October,” Walker said.
An Oct. 1, 1994, hailstorm caused $354 million damage, making it the seventh-costliest hailstorm in Colorado history.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp
