Oct. Hail Damage $40 Million In N.M.

Friday, October 15th, 2004 — For Albuquerque residents earlier at the beginning of October, the pounding came in waves. The first stones battered roofs and cars in the middle of the night and then another round hammered the west side the following morning.

For areas further south, it was baseball-sized hail totaling cars in Socorro and leaving its telltale marks on other communities such as Roswell, Hobbs, and Belen.

All that hail has added up to an estimated insurance price tag of $39.7 million. Based on the number of claims filed so far, the insurance industry estimates that the Oct. 5 hailstorm will result in more than 8,300 auto claims and approximately 4,100 homeowner claims.

Some companies have brought in special catastrophe teams and have opened drive-up claims centers to help with the settlement process.