Weekend hailstorm left gardens decimated, broke through shopping mall's roof dome - Action News
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Calgary

Weekend hailstorm left gardens decimated, broke through shopping mall's roof dome

The sudden, powerful hailstorm that swept over Calgary on Saturday evening left gardens decimated, damaged the siding on homes, and even appeared to break through the plexiglass domes at the Chinook Mall food court.

Expert says scope of the damage in the city won't be known for weeks

The aftermath of a hailstorm in Calgary on July 15, 2023.
The aftermath of the hailstorm at Ashley Brown's home. She said the storm damaged her siding. (Submitted by Ashley Brown )

The sudden, powerful hailstorm that swept over Calgary Saturday evening left gardens decimated, damaged the siding of homes, and even appeared to breakthrough a plexiglass domeat the Chinook Mall food court.

David Coderre was in the southwest Calgary mall around 8:30 p.m. when he and his kids heard a "tremendous sound" coming from the hallways.

"I was, like, what is that noise?" he said. "It sounded almost like a marching band was coming through with drums."

Knowing a thunderstorm warning had been issued, Coderre quickly realized it was hail.

When he and his kids walked to the second-floor food court to see the scene outside, they noticed that a plexiglass domeoverhead wasbreaking, letting in the elements.

"It didn't seem dangerous because it wasn't actually glass, it was plastic, but it was kind of weird to see hail coming through a food court," Coderre said.

Mall management did not respond to requests for an interview.

EnvironmentCanada meteorologist Andrew Palmer said Saturday's fast-moving storm developed over the western part of the cityand swept toward the south.He said Sunday that hehadn't heard reports of major damage.

In the storm's way was Ashley Brown's duplex in the southeast community of Riverbend. She said hail as large as golf balls shredded her garden and chipped her siding.

"This time, the hail was just a lot bigger than normal," Brown said. "The amount was insane."

A sudden hailstorm on July 15, 2023, in Calgary damaged a plastic dome of the food court at Chinook Mall.
A witness said hailstones broke through a plastic dome at Chinook Mall, briefly letting the storm fall on part of the second-floor food court. (Submitted by David Coderre)

The hailstones also crushed Traci Zeller's garden in Marda Loop, in southwest Calgary.The storm came on so quickly Zeller didn't have time to cover her plants.

"It was probably one of the most brutal ones I've seen in a long time," said Zeller, who's lived in Calgary for over 25 years.

Michael Metcalf, who recently moved to Calgary,wasdriving on Deerfoot Trail in southeast Calgary when the storm hit.

He said traffic came to a standstill as cars huddledtogether under the Glenmore Trail overpass.

"I have hail damage," he said. "Everybody under that bridge was obviously concerned for their vehicles as well."

He described the situation as chaotic and potentially dangerous in the low-visibility conditions.

Rob de Pruis, national director of consumer and industry relations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said the severity of the weekend storm is currently being assessed, adding that it generallytakes a month to determine the scale of the damage and its financial impact.

Even so, he encouraged those with damaged homes and vehicles to submit claims sooner than later.

Before and after photos of hail damage in Calgary following a storm on July 15, 2023.
Before and after photos of hail damage in Calgary following a storm on July 15, 2023. (Submitted by Traci Zeller)

De Pruis also underlined that severe weather events are increasing with the new reality brought on byclimate change.

"Catastrophic weather losses continue to rise in Canada with $2 billion annual insured damages being normal," he said.

For Brown, she knows hail damage in Calgary is just a fact of life.

"It was just a matter of time when it would hit us."

With files from Dan McGarvey