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[h2]Insurers, car shops pelted by claims[/h2]
Damage caused by hailstorms is in the millions
By Lisa Black
Tribune staff reporter
Published August 7, 2003
It's been a busy summer for many auto body shops, with fierce storms battering the Chicago area, leaving millions of dollars in hail damage and insurance claims.
"It looks crazy--how much damage hail can do to a car," said J.R. Palacios, repair process manager for Sterling Autobody Collision Center in Libertyville. "It's all over the cars--their hoods, their roofs, their trunks. Everything is all mashed up."
Owned by Allstate Insurance Co., Sterling Autobody has handled about 100 claims involving hail-damaged cars as a result of two storms in June and July, Palacios said. The shop has scheduled an average of four hail-damaged cars for repair every week through September.
The cars have come from the Deerfield, Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights areas, with more expected from Highland Park, one of the communities hit hard during last Sunday's tempest, Palacios said.
At the Bill Stasek Chevrolet repair shop in Wheeling, manager Brad Keller declined to give numbers, but said "probably 75 percent of the business is hail-related. It is unusual. Every few years we may see a storm that brushes through the area, but this is first time we've been in the center of it."
Meteorologists concur that there have been more hail-producing storms this year.
"It was just the frequency, especially compared to the last three years," said Andrew Krein, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, based in Romeoville. Big storms hit the area on at least six or seven days during July, he said.
With any strong thunderstorm, hail can form when supported by a strong updraft at freezing level, often 15,000 feet or higher, Krein said. The longer the stones remain in the air, the more water freezes to their surface, causing them to grow larger until the updraft can no longer support them.
"It's not unusual for these kinds of thunderstorms to have three-quarter inch hail," Krein said. "It's just when you see it day after day after day, you think something is up."
Northbrook-based Allstate Insurance has called in a national catastrophe team to handle weather-related damage claims, standard procedure when a single storm is expected to cause damage exceeding $1 million, said spokesman Mike Siemienas.
"Since the first storm hit around the 4th of July, we've had adjusters here to assist in Illinois to handle the claims," he said.
Wind and hail damage has been reported to Allstate for more than 4,300 automobiles and 4,660 properties statewide during July, he said. Most claims were concentrated in the Chicago area, including Wheeling, Naperville, Aurora and Schaumburg, Siemienas said. He declined to release damage estimates.
State Farm Insurance, based in Bloomington, has received 2,200 claims involving auto body damage resulting from hailstorms that hit from Friday to Monday.
"We think we'll receive about 5,000 all told," company spokesman Joe Johnson said. "On those 5,000, our early estimate is we will pay customers $13 million."
State Farm also has handled 824 homeowner claims for repairs and expects that figure to double, with an estimated cost of $4.2 million, Johnson said. Most claims are from the Chicago area, he said.
Lorraine Hionis of Addison was one of the people who called State Farm for help. Her 1989 Ford Tempo was parked outside her son's home in Elgin during Friday's hailstorm.
"We had dents like you wouldn't believe--on the trunk, the roof, the fenders, the whole car," Hionis said. "I was shocked at the amount of damage done to the car."
In Buffalo Grove, Sharon Lester watched from her home as her 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII got pelted on July 16.
"It was horrifying," she said. "There was no time to pull the car into the garage without fear of getting hurt, so we just watched the hail come down. It was big, like golf balls."
While this year's damage is significant, it still pales in comparison with the havoc wreaked on May 18, 2000, when a hailstorm forced State Farm to pay $130 million in damages in the Chicago area, mainly in Lake County and northern Cook County, Johnson said.
Another victim of a storm that hit Sunday with gusting wind and hail was the Taste of Roselle, said Jim Hodgdon, festival chairman.
He realizes there is little he can do differently when preparing for the next festival.
"You're outside, you take your chances," he said.
