‘A lot of panic’: Body shops slammed with requests after hailstorm

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — After a massive hailstorm ripped through Calgary on Saturday, people are still trying to figure out the cost of the destruction.

It’s estimated that tens of thousands of homes were damaged in the storm, and Mayor Naheed Nenshi speculated on Monday that it could run over a billion dollars.

“More homes were damaged here than in the 2013 flood,” he said. “One of the most severe summer storms that we have had in Calgary in many, many years. I would argue in history.

“It reminded me of movies of houses strafed with gunfire,” added Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Tom Sampson.

WATCH: Calgary cleans up from devastating hailstorm

But in addition to the damage to homes, especially in northeast Calgary, countless cars were pummelled with hail as well.

All through communities such as Martindale and Taradale, cars are covered with dents and many have cracked or smashed windows.

This is causing some people to scramble to figure out who can repair their vehicles and how much it will cost.

“The demand is tremendous,” said Anitha Kodam at Maaco bodyshop in the northeast. “There was a lot of panic.”

Kodam spent most of Monday trying to guide people in the right direction, but the windshield repair shops are also extremely busy and she is starting to have trouble getting through to them.

“The situation is sudden, the customers don’t know where to go or to whom to contact. Whether the contact the insurance, whether they contact the windshield guys,” added Kodam.

“It was nonstop all day,” said Jessica Kneiss at Crystal Glass. “I was booking for Friday (on Monday). Normally we can get in usually the next day, even same day.”

Kneiss thinks they have serviced around 50 cars already, combined between the shop and mobile repair.

You could be looking at a long wait for service, whether it is for paintless dent repair or windshield repair, and if you do get in you could be faced with a big bill.

“I’ve seen vehicles that have priced in under $500 to fix, on the bad end there’s vehicles that are pricing up over $15,000 to be repaired,” said Josh Kidd, owner and operations manager at Dent Force in Alberta.

Already they have seen dozens of cars come into the shop for assessments and repairs, and while the wait isn’t too long as people wait on responses from insurance companies that list is expected to grow significantly.

“That queue is growing quickly. That answer would be different by this time next week or the week after,” said Kidd.

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But you also need to be prepared for a worst-case scenario, as a smashed windshield presented a prime opportunity for water to get into all the nooks and crannies in the car.

“Even if they fix the windshield, still there is water damage and mechanical issues in the future,” said Kodam. “It’s a pain.”

“Once water damage gets into play, the repair bill gets quite high quite quick,” added Kidd. “There’s a large spectrum of damage from this storm in the centre of where the worst damage was. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of vehicles that will be un-repaired.”

Body shops are ready to handle people’s questions and willing to point you in the right direction as well, as in many cases insurance companies don’t need to get involved if you only have minor dents or cracks.

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