One "Hail" of a Storm!

Back in May, we got the hail storm of a lifetime.  We heard weather reports of hail - which never amount to anything.  We did move our vehicles under the trees, just in case, but I didn't move any of my potted plants.  I'd moved them 3 or 4 times already that month, and nothing ever materialized.

And then we got this:

Remember - this was taken May 31, not in January!

This was average size.  The smallest were about nickel-size.

It got very foggy as the cold rose from the hail (ice!) covering the ground.  And those puddles were COLD!

I had just commented on how wonderful our garden looked.  Corn was in the foreground, tomatoes in the back, peas, beans, and hill crops between.

Our roof was only 6 months old!  The insurance adjuster said this damage was the worst he'd seen in our area, and our roofer said it was the worst he'd ever seen.

It took a crew of 8 all day to rake up the mess.

Both of our vehicles were totaled.  The roof was a complete mess - obvious dents, broken shingles and debris all over the decks and yard.  The skylights in our barn were completely broken out.  Nearly every piece of siding on two sides of the house had at least one hole in it.  The screens and trim of all the windows of the north and west side were ruined - but surprisingly no broken glass!  My garden and all of our shade was obliterated.  Thankfully, though, no pets or people were injured!  (Although we did have to rescue a kitten from 6 inches of standing water in our barn!)
We have family, and friends like family, that volunteered to help with the cleanup.  They spent most of the day raking, and got it all done.  We were even able to go help our new neighbors clean up their yard as well.
Insurance paid very well on the vehicles (which we kept - what was a few more dents?), but didn't pay nearly what we'd hoped on the house.  Thankfully, the two payouts combined will cover all the repairs, plus upgrading the siding on the other two sides of the house.