Hailstorm damages homes in Tooele County
Jul 20, 2023, 8:31 PM | Updated: 8:34 pm
TOOELE, Utah — Major cleanup was going on in Tooele Thursday following Wednesday night’s big hailstorm.
Several homes were damaged by the hail and winds.
Mishayli Hardman, a resident in the area, experienced that damage firsthand.
“We hear like clinking and hail starts pouring down,” Hardman said. “In our driveway you could see the hail creating a stream so it almost looked like a small river.”
The hail that began to come down, accumulated rapidly and grew in size.
“We have golfball-sized, sometimes nickel sized or quarters. They were ginormous,” she said.
All of that hail left a mark. One side of the Hardman family’s home is left with chunks of siding missing and a ripped up window screen.
“My dad told me that he’s never seen any of this in his life,” Hardman said.
Their house wasn’t the only thing damaged.
“If you drive down the street and you look at the fences you can see big ol’ holes right through everything,” Hardman said.
Lecia McCollum’s screened in porch is now full of holes.
“I’ve seen high winds but I’ve never seen the hail like that,” McCollum said. “It was huge!”
McCollum is picking up parts of her home scattered all around.
“There’s pieces of plastic all over my driveway,” she said.
The storm caught her off guard.
“I was downstairs folding some clothes and I thought I heard my window break down there….there’s like a gunshot hole that came through it,” McCollum said.
The hail came down strong enough to crack the glass and chip the fresh coat of paint on her home.
“I described it as a war zone,” McCollum said. “It was this pelting all over the house. My grandkids put a coat of paint on that for me and it’s like now all over the driveway.”
She says she didn’t expect the hail to be this strong and this big.
“I didn’t think it would do that much damage, but it did,” she said.
The hail melted as quickly as it came, with a lot left to repair for Tooele homeowners.