The spring storm that hammered parts of Madison with hailstones — resulting in damaged roofs, shattered car windows and other destruction — will keep the area’s construction crews, auto glass and insurance companies busy in the weeks ahead.
I had a front-row (well, basement level) seat to the pummeling, which resulted in a broken window and two cars pockmarked with quarter-sized dents and a damaged windshield.
In the wake of the storm, on the near east side, representatives of roofing companies knocked on doors and dropped off fliers offering free inspections. What had been a neighborhood blanketed with golf ball-sized hail days earlier was now a mix of trucks, ladders and repair workers.
“For us, it’s unprecedented in 24 years of business,” Ron Chester, general manager at Full Spectrum Solar, told In Business Madison’s Louis Livingston-Garcia. “We’ve installed over 50,000 solar panels, and up until the events of April 14th, we can think on one hand how many solar panels couldn’t handle your regular hail.
“The hail we witnessed on the 14th was absolutely next scale, next size, and we’re receiving a lot of damage reports.”
Local insurance companies like Hausmann Group and American Family were busy responding to customer calls and emails that week. Volume was so high that AmFam offered mobile claims sites in Madison for in-person support, Livingston-Garcia reported.
It was yet another reminder of the need for communities to prepare for extreme weather as the climate changes.
In this month’s issue
For May’s cover story, staff journalist Brittney Kenaston visited the Center for Black Excellence and Culture on Madison’s south side and spoke with Rev. Alex Gee about his vision for a place where the city’s Black community can flourish.
Gee and his colleagues were readying for the May 6 opening of the striking new building — designed by JLA Architects’ Rafeeq Asad — and the excitement was palpable. Be sure to take a look at the story online at ibmadison.com for an extended gallery of photos by Shalicia Johnson of ArrowStar Photography.
“This is a space where we want to enhance the Black quality of life,” Gee told Kenaston. “(If people say) I can be fully myself in Madison, that makes me happy.”
We’re also delighted to share the names of our 2026 Forty Under 40 honorees. Stay tuned next month for profiles of each of these standout leaders.
Thanks for reading!
