PAOLA, Kan. — A state of emergency has been declared in Miami County, Kansas as well as the cities of Paola and Osawatomie after large hail caused widespread damage early Wednesday evening.
Several residents reported seeing baseball-sized hail and photos and damage left behind seem to back up those claims.
The super-sized hail storm put three-inch wide holes in windshields and left its mark, or more likely tens of thousands of marks, all over Miami County homes and cars. At Sundance Paola Apartments, there were several broken windows and the siding had hundreds of holes two inches wide or more.
NWS confirms two tornadoes hit Clinton, Missouri, Wednesday night
Homeowner Javier Guzman met with contractors Thursday, working to repair a broken skylight at his home that already let last night’s rain into his bathroom, with concerns of more severe weather on the way.
“Never seen anything like it, it was pretty wild,” Guzman described the baseball-sized hail.
Neighborhoods were flooded with roofers on Thursday, inspecting shingles with large dents and cracked solar panels.
“The damage that’s out here is most likely the type of damage that you have to get taken care of as soon as possible. Because if it starts raining again and the hail that we are seeing is impacted the shingles and penetrating to the matting, so eventually you’ll start seeing leaks into the roof and homeowner’s ceilings and stuff like that,” Shinnova Home Field Manager Greg Walker said.
The Miami County Sheriff’s Office advises people with homeowner’s insurance to report hail damage to authorities. The damage could be so widespread that FEMA gets involved with relief efforts.
That damage also impacted countless cars. Dylan Manchester tried to get his car in the garage – but says he had to consider his own safety once what he also described as baseball-sized hail started. Now, like many Miami County residents, he has a car whose auto-body looks like it was left sitting in the middle of a golf driving range and a cracked front windshield and shattered rear windshield.
Video shows hail shattering skylights at Paola, Kansas, Walmart
“Everyone is out here trying to do their own thing. secure their property, fix their vehicles, fix their roofs and homes and that sort of thing. It will be some time, but hopefully everyone gets taken care of properly,” Manchester said.
With more severe weather potential on the way, residents no doubt feel the rush to get repairs lined up. The Miami County Sheriff’s Office advises people to watch out for offers that seem too good to be true or contractors who want large upfront payments for repairs.
