In its 24 years of existence, Full Spectrum Solar has not seen the sort of damage the Tuesday evening storm unleashed on the Madison area.
“For us, it’s unprecedented in 24 years of business,” said Ron Chester, general manager at Full Spectrum Solar. “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.”
Residents were left with damage to cars, roofs, siding and more thanks to a barrage of hailstones, some as large as tennis balls. It means a lot of work not only for residents, but also for local businesses and municipalities.
Chester said residents should get an inspection even if they don’t see major damage to a solar panel but did have shingle damage. He added that homeowners insurance will cover these incidents.
Benjamin Howery, claims executive and team lead at Hausmann Group, said in a statement that “We started receiving calls and emails Monday night after the initial wind came through, but (Tuesday) night’s hail and stronger winds drove a much larger surge in activity.
“As soon as the storm ended and it was safe, our team began responding to customers who were trying to figure out what had happened and what they should do next.”
When a storm hits like the ones this week, Howery said the independent insurance agency sees a lot of claims for things that are visible: vehicle damage, broken windows, tree damage and siding issues. Roof claims tend to come more gradually over weeks and months as contractors can inspect them and find damage that isn’t obvious.
From a volume standpoint, claims have been high. On Wednesday afternoon Howery said the company “had already submitted more than twice as many claims as on the next busiest single claim day over the past several years.”
Early on, auto‑related claims are slightly outpacing property claims, which is typical after hail events, though he expects property claims to increase as inspections continue.
Claim volume is so high that American Family Insurance is providing mobile claims sites in Madison for in-person support.
Professionals from AmFam will be at Gerber Auto Body at 200 W. Beltline Road and Zimbrick Auto Body at 5421 Wayne Terrace Suite 100 beginning Thursday by appointment. People can call 1-800-692-6326 to schedule these appointments.
The locations also offer auto drive-in inspections via appointment.
As of late Wednesday afternoon, American Family Insurance received over 3,700 claims related to the storms throughout the state of Wisconsin.
“When severe weather hits, the most important thing is providing clear answers and fast support for those affected,” Tim Constien, chief claims officer for American Family Insurance, said in a statement. “From deploying mobile claims units to coordinating inspections, our teams are working to make the claims process as smooth as possible.”
City cleans up
Beyond personal damage, there’s also damage to public spaces.
Some of the city’s 100,000 trees were downed during both storms, leaving city arborists busy with removing them from important roads.
The city had about 90 calls total from both storm days, which is a lot, but typical of a major storm, said Bryan Johnson, Madison’s streets division spokesperson.
Emergency calls are ones that involve removing a tree from a road that can inhibit travel. Johnson must cycle through calls to gather info and see where his team of arborists, of which there are 29, need to go first.
“As important as it is to get a sidewalk clear, getting a primary road cleared is more important, so we have to go there first,” Johnson said.
And while Johnson said it was not the worst week of storms for the city’s tree crew, he doesn’t want to downplay it.
“These two were bad storms but could have been worse,” he said. “Some lives were upended. A tree fell on a house — their lives have changed. Everyone who had a windshield broken or roof damaged, they’re going to remember this for a long time. It’s just a matter of us working through it.”
And there is plenty of work to do for all involved.
Frey Construction in the Sauk Prairie area works on roofs, windows and more, and the receptionist there said the phones were “blowing up” with calls Wednesday afternoon.
And Todd Hetrick, owner of Madison Auto Glass, had his phone set to go straight to voicemail, asking for specific window types needed and complete VIN numbers.
“Due to the storm damage, a reply will be delayed,” his message simply stated.
His mailbox was full.
