600+ New Cars Demolished by Tennis Ball-Sized Hail at Michigan Dealerships
The city of Davison, Michigan was devastated by an intense hail storm that destroyed hundreds of new cars and damaged all of the local police cars.
A series of powerful hail storms have severely damaged property in and around the small city of Davison, Michigan near Flint, Michigan. While houses were damaged, local cars were destroyed by the freak hail storm that had tennis ball-sized hail. Local dealerships reported that over 600 new cars were damaged by the storms, and the local police department is down to just two patrol vehicles.
Todd Wenzel Buick GMC and Hank Graff Chevrolet both reported major damage to all of their new car inventory that was parked outside during the storm. Hundreds of new cars have broken windshields, shattered wide windows, dented hoods, dented roofs, and extensive damage over any exposed panel. Some cars even were water damaged from the hail breaking the glass, allowing water to enter them during the storm.
The scene at the dealership was of devastation, with cars looking like they’ve had a bat taken to them. Windshields were marked with several large hits, while dents in the metalwork of the cars suggest massive hail. Some cars escaped broken glass, but almost all cars received some dents. The dealerships took to wrapping cars in plastic to protect them from the elements while the cars were being evaluated for repairs. Chris Graff, the owner of Graff Chevrolet, told ABC12 that there may be some good deals for customers through a scratch and dent sale. It seems that most cars will be repaired through insurance, though it's unclear if the loss of value is insured as well.
The local police department was also affected and has only two operational patrol cars to respond to calls with. The rest of the Davison Township’s patrol car fleet suffered from broken windows that need to be repaired before the cars return to service, with the last two cars only sustaining dents.
Nonetheless, a significant amount of damage was caused by the intense hail storm. Tennis ball-sized hail sounds terrifying, and it's lucky that no injuries have been reported so far. It seems the only victims are several hundred new cars.
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