NE Bexar County residents recall damage from 2016 hailstorm

SAN ANTONIO – No one saw it coming, but thousands of residents in Bexar County are most likely glad that a severe hailstorm a year ago is a thing of the past.

People throughout the region spent a sleepless night on April 12, 2016, riding out one of the worst hailstorms in the county’s history.

Many people were shocked the next morning to see damage to car windows that looked like the aftermath of a baseball bat attack.

Instead, it was baseball-sized hail, which also damaged homes.

Millicent Patterson found both types of damage at her home in the 5500 block of Lochmoor Drive in northeast Bexar County.

“I got my cars repaired, and so far, so good,” she said, reflecting on the struggles she faced in the wake of the wild weather. "It was a process, but you know, they finally got done."

Patterson had to repair a skylight in her bathroom, replace shattered flowerpots in her garden and get new windows for three vehicles. She ended up replacing two of the damaged cars with a new vehicle. Her damaged SUV looks almost as good as new.

Patterson said she has a new appreciation for the power of Mother Nature.

"That made me pay more attention to the weather when they say that hail is coming. So I take cover," Patterson said. “A couple of weeks ago, I thought it was coming back again, so I took shelter. I parked my cars in a garage."

Although he witnessed his neighbors' woes, Christopher Washington never had to worry about repairs. Somehow, the hailshower skipped over his property.

"We said a prayer during the hailstorm, and it had stopped dramatically right when we were praying," Washington said. "And through the grace of God, nothing happened to our van.”

The neighborhood, off FM 78 and Woodlake Parkway, was one of several areas hit hard by the storm.

Before the end of the month, there were two other storms.

The combined total of damages caused by the storms was estimated at close to $2 billion.