Hail storms can wreak havoc on your home and car. While they don’t happen regularly, they are incidents that everyone should prepare for. There aren’t bad hail storms every year, but San Antonio sees multiple storms per year on average, causing variable amounts of damage.
We’ve compiled a list of the best things to do to prepare before the next hailstorm strikes.
Check the weather
Hail storms are unpredictable regarding the damage they may cause, but you can at least be alerted to when they’ll likely occur. Most severe weather will be reported through your weather app or on the local news, though warnings happen only shortly before the storm starts. Keep an eye out during spring thunderstorms as this is the most common time for hail storms to occur.
Finding Shelter
Store your car in your garage or carport if you have one when in your home. Make sure to clear space in your garage if you don’t have room.
If you don’t have a roof to put your car under and you know a hailstorm is coming, try to find shelter locally under a roof of some sort, like a parking garage.
Sometimes, there’s just no way of avoiding leaving your car out during a hailstorm. For lighter hail, start by putting one or two layers of moving blankets over your vehicle. Then for added weather resistance, place a tarp over that. For less than $50, you have layered protection to soften the blows of large hail. Moving blankets and tarps have a variety of other uses as well, not just for protecting your car.
Keep clear of trees
Trees don’t provide much protection when it comes to hail storms. On the contrary, falling branches caused by hail may damage your car just as much as the hail itself. Make sure to perform routine maintenance and trimming trees at your house to make sure damage around any tree is minimized.
Close your shutters
Many houses are equipped with decorative eaves or shutters to add to a home’s decor. Adding functional shutters that can be closed will increase your property value and help protect against window damage during heavy storms. Hail stones can easily break exposed home windows, and shutters provide good protection against this.
Move your lawn furniture
Bring lawn installations, like birdbaths, grills, lawn furniture under cover. Not only are they very susceptible to hail damage, they can also blow in the heavy winds, causing damage to them or anything they may knock over.
Despite all your efforts, hail storms are still unpredictable, and can strike without any warning. If the unpredictable happens and your car is damaged by hail, give Prime Time PDR a call!
