PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Don Batiste thought someone came through with a machine gun.
“The thunder came, and after the thunder it was raining, and then all of a sudden it just hit, boom!” Batiste said.
That boom was golf-ball-sized hail pounding an apartment complex near 19th and Dunlap avenues for 10 to 20 minutes Wednesday afternoon — breaking windows and leaving damage still visible 24 hours later.
Storms rolled through the Phoenix area Wednesday, bringing rain and hail to north Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe, Mesa and other Valley communities. In Phoenix’s North Mountain area, heavy hail slammed cars and homes.
‘Hail all on her bed’
“My sister’s bedroom took it the most. You know, it was hail all on her bed and glass and stuff,” Batiste said.
Across the complex, residents reported shattered windows, dented cars and damaged doors, walls and shutters.
“I heard the rain, and I heard the really loud thundering, and the window was shaking, and I’m just staring out the window like, it’s not gonna break. Then boom! It breaks on me,” one woman said.
“I just thought, somebody had came through with a machine gun and just literally with bullets. You know, I didn’t know it was hail,” Batiste said.
The severe weather also knocked down tree branches near 31st Avenue and Bethany Home Road and toppled a tree into an apartment building near 28th and Peoria avenues.
Cleaning up, one piece at a time
Devin Nailor spent 15 minutes cleaning glass from his wife’s car. The back windshield was gone, glass was everywhere and the body was covered in dents.
Devin Nailor showing the damage sustained to his wife’s car during a recent hail storm in Phoenix.(azfamily)
“Look around. There they go. Everywhere you can look, you find one all up there, all in the front,” Nailor said. “Like somebody had a cloth over a ball peen hammer and just said pop, pop.”
Neighbors came outside to check on each other.
“A lot of people came together,” Nailor said.
“At least it wasn’t fire. It wasn’t an earthquake. Glass can be replaced. And we have mops and buckets,” Batiste said. “I guess the worst part is over, so can’t worry.”
For Nailor, next is replacing the windshield. For others, cleanup continues one piece at a time.
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