Grapefruit-Size Hail Strikes Texas’ Midland/Odessa Area

Wind gusts of up to 72 miles per hour and hail as large as grapefruit struck the Midland/Odessa area on Wednesday. Thousands of West Texans were waking up to damaged roofs and automobiles with shattered windshields. Insurance company catastrophe teams are arriving in both cities to handle the high volume of claims. Local insurance agencies are also trying to keep up with the number of reported claims. “It’s been nuts,” said Andrea Hidalgo with the Tara Simmons Insurance Agency in Odessa. “We’ve been hit with large hail the last two days and last night was especially hard and we are supposed to get hit again tonight.”