DALLAS - Several body shops in North Texas said they have enough damaged vehicles from recent hail storms to keep them working for months to come.
"Got my fingers crossed [it will keep us busy] through the end of the year," said Lee Roth of Dent-A-Way.
One affect of so many hail-damaged vehicles is a shortage of rental cars at suburban locations.
The St. Patrick's Day hail storm lasted mere minutes last month, but created so much business for Dent-A-Way in Arlington that it had to lease more space.
The 20-year-old company now has six garages, and is waiting on a seventh space to open up so technicians can push and pull more dents and dings.
"Cars are coming in left and right," Roth said. "Everybody is busy now. Body shops are slammed. Dent shops are slammed. It's a storm we've been waiting on for almost six years."
One Dodge Caravan, for example, had an estimated 300 dents from marble sized-hail. It will probably take two to three days to repair.
This large hail stone was embedded in the window of a vehicle on April 11, 2016. (Photo: WFAA)
But hail that fell in Wylie on Monday night was so big it likely totaled the cars and trucks that it struck.
Icy spheres the size of baseballs punched through glass and left large dents that likely can't be massaged out, experts said.
Adjusters are still tallying the total number of vehicles obliterated in Collin County on Monday.
Wylie Mayor Eric Hogue had his rental car badly damaged by the large hail stones on Monday. His own vehicle was already in the shop getting fixed from the last hail storm a few weeks ago.
Caliber Collision told WFAA it is scheduling customers into October.
Farther west, Wise County was hit just as hard on Monday. One hail stone the size of a tennis ball got stuck in the windshield of a car that pulled over on Highway 287.
Spring isn't over yet, but several powerful storms have already left widespread damage in their wake.
"It's just April,” said Roth. “We've got a good month, month-and-a-half of more storms coming through."
