Weather damage

It's shaping up to be a busy weekend for insurance adjusters after a hailstorm blasted Wednesday through the Permian Basin.

"It's a real fine hail damage," Allstate Insurance agent Kyle Muse said. "I think a lot of people need to go wash their car and look again."

As more and more people begin to notice the dents on their vehicles, they're quickly reporting to their insurance agents for help getting it fixed.

"When people call the 800 number, they immediately started tracking," Muse said.

The large numbers of claims coming in have forced Allstate to bring in its National Catastrophe Team.

 "When you get this many claims all at one time you pretty much got to do something like this," Muse said. "Otherwise your regular adjusters can't keep up with the influx of claims."

Other insurance agents were also seeing more business. Andrew Hernandez, a State Farm agent with an office on North Grandview Avenue, said his office processed 40 claims in the first 30 minutes of work on Thursday.

"I have five full-time staffers and we were all on the phone all day yesterday," he said Friday, adding that he hadn't even realized how much he had grown his business in his three years in operation.

He said a catastrophe team is en route to Odessa and would set up appointments with people to inspect cars. Often, Hernandez said, people can be paid on the spot for damages.

Hernandez said State Farm agents in Odessa had processed more than 900 claims as of mid-afternoon Friday.

"If you lived on the east side of town, you were hit the hardest," he said.

Chuck Alderson, a Farmers agent, said he alone had processed nearly 40 claims by Friday afternoon. Farmers agents across the city were swamped. The company has sent in a mobile catastrophe team at Quality Body Works and Alignment, 1705 E. Eighth St. Appointments are required before an adjuster will see any vehicles.

"I can't speak for Farmers, but they don't bring in the catastrophe teams unless the claims are expected to run in the millions," Alderson said.

Alderson said the mobile catastrophe team - which brought in 24 hail adjustors with it - would remain at Quality Body a couple of days before moving to other parts of town to help process claims.

The Farmers agent said insurance adjustors were already walking roofs in Odessa.

"We try to take care of someone within 48 hours of when they call in," he said.

Meanwhile, Max and Linda Price took their car in Friday to Allstate to have it looked at.

Linda Price said the storm damage was unusual because they don't normally get that much wind where they live.

The hail "was like the size of a golf ball," Linda Price said. "I could see it, and I wasn't about to go out there and get pounded - it was lightning like crazy."

Max Price said he was happy with the way Allstate was handling the large number of claims.

"They gave me an 800 number to call, about an hour-and-a-half later he already had an appointment for me at 11:30 a.m.," Max Price said. "You can't beat that."

NEED TO MAKE A CLAIM?

ALLSTATE

>> Report a claim by calling 800-45-STORM.

>> You must make an appointment before an adjuster will see your vehicle.

>> Allstate Catastrophe Claims Drive-In is opens at 8 a.m.

FARMERS

>> Report a claim by calling 800-435-7764.

>> You must make an appointment before an adjuster will see your vehicle.

>> Farmers mobile catastrophe team is set up at Quality Body Works and Alignment, 1705 E. Eighth St.,

State Farm

>> Report a claim by calling your agent.

>> State Farm's catastrophe team will make appointments with people to come to Music City Mall on Tuesday for vehicle inspections.