Roofing companies cleaning up on hail damage claims in Windward Oahu

KAILUA, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

When you think about Hawaii hail damage probably isn't the first thing to come to mind. Yet thousands of homes are said to be damaged by a freak storm last year and various roofing companies are capitalizing.

Initially when we heard about these storm chasers it sounded like a scam. But the state, customers and the companies say there really was hail damage.

It was March 9, 2012. A freak storm hit windward Oahu. A small tornado hit Lanikai and dropped a lot of hail throughout the area. As it turns out the hail is creating millions of dollars in damage claims.

"If you drive down Kaha Street in Kailua you'll notice just about every roof on the street is brand new. A street like that got slammed," said Trevor Carlson, HW Roofing Regional Sales Manager.

HW Roofing has already signed up 750 homeowners and hopes to double that in the coming months.

"Just about any roof in Kailua we're going to see hail hits on the roof," said Carlson. "If nobody tells you you're never going to know."

So companies are going door to door and roof to roof finding hail damage and alerting homeowners like Doug Miller.

"I never knew exactly what a hail storm looked like," said Doug Miller, Kailua homeowner. "I wouldn't have known that had these guys not come around and informed me and struck the deal to do it."

Miller happened to save some of the golf ball size hail that hit his house. He got $22,000 from his insurance company for a new roof and some gutters.

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Roofing companies cleaning up on hail damage claims in Windward Oahu