NORTHPORT, P.E.I. - To demonstrate the force of the hail that pommelled his property last week, Fred Hamill raps his knuckles on the tonneau cover of his black 2017 GMC Elevation truck.
He doesn’t leave a mark.
All over the truck cover and the truck’s shiny black paint, though, there are dents which he says were caused by the hail that accompanied a powerful storm that passed through Cascumpec and Northport around 5:30 p.m. on July 10.
Hamill estimates the hail lasted all of seven minutes, long enough to cause widespread damage. The entire region was caught up in powerful wind and torrential rain, but the band of hail was heaviest along the north shore. Torrents of water flooded through Main Street in Alberton and down the alley into the lower parking lot and the air temperature dropped seven degrees within minutes of the storm settling in.
Hamill said he heard a report of the wind reaching gusts of 70 knots during the brief weather event.
Holes are evident in the siding on homes and buildings all along Route 152 in Northport which Hamill said were caused by hail almost as big in diameter as a loonie.
“I never saw anything like that in my lifetime,” said the retired fisherman.
One insurance official said his company has already heard from 50 policyholders whose properties sustained damage to their exterior cladding, including siding and roofing. Damage estimates are still being tallied.
Jason Rayner, who farms in Cascumpec, said their fields were just outside of the heavy band of hail and escaped pretty well unscathed. He suspects some farms would have sustained crop damage. He was in Alberton, working at the Prine County Exhibition office when the storm hit. He said there was some hail but not to the extent that Northport and Cascumpec received. Still, there was a brief period when exhibition workers could not see the elementary school across Church Street because of the reduced visibility.
The wind, rain and the hail were so powerful, Hamill said, that he feared the windows in his sunporch would shatter. Thankfully, he said, they withstood the barrage.
Once the storm passed he discovered the hail had shattered two panes of glass in his building’s windows and, once the paint dried, the dents all over his truck became visible. His house also got peppered and will need to be repainted, he said, but the truck is his immediate concern.
Hamill said he has an appointment for Tuesday to learn the extent of damage to his truck, but he fears the damage alone could tally thousands of dollars.
