Dublin is recovering from a disastrous hail storm that targeted the city limits and the area surrounding it, Sunday, May 10 making for a loud and eventful Mother’s Day.
“While there was significant damage from the hail and wind, we are fortunate that no major injuries were reported. We had damage to city vehicles and buildings but we are currently working with insurance to address those issues,” said Director of Public Safety Cameron Ray.
Ray said adjusters were in town to check out damage done to city buildings and vehicles.
According to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, multiple reports were received regarding tennis to baseball size hail falling in the city, which is 2.5-to-2.75-inch hail.
Rain estimates were from 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain.
A power outage also occurred as the result of the storm lasting about an hour for most of Dublin.
Significant damage was done to windows, vehicles and roofs throughout the city and the area surrounding the town. The Little Church on Grafton suffered windows broken out as did First Baptist Church which had 50-year-old-stained glass windows shattered.
The railroad depot also had windows broken.
On the county level, Precinct 2 lost the windshield on one piece of equipment at the new Dublin barn located on FM 219.
The sheriff’s office also lost one Tahoe due to window and windshield damage.
Dublin ISD suffered widespread damage to its fleet of school buses with every single bus having some form of damage most with broken windows, doors or windshields.
DISD canceled bus service Monday, May 11 and was able to arrange enough buses from surrounding districts to get through the remaining week of school.
“Safety will always remain our number one priority, and we appreciate the patience, support, and understanding from our families during this time. A heartfelt thank you to our surrounding school districts for generously loaning buses and stepping in to help our students and community. Your kindness and partnership mean more than words can express,” Superintendent Melissa Summers said. “We really want to thank our neighbors for helping us out.”
The district will be getting bids to at least consider the cost of covering the bus area to help prevent damage in the future.
DISD roofs fared well with the new extreme hail resistant covering not showing any leaks after being replaced in the past year.