Dodging Hail

We live in an area that is more prone to getting hail than just about anywhere else in the world. Areas just east of the Rocky Mountains tend to get more damaging hail than other areas across the U.S. and around the world.  Thanks to well-constructed buildings and weather alerts warning of dangerous weather such as large hail, deaths related to hail are very few. The first known death because of hail was recorded in May back in 1930 in Lubbock, Texas when a man was caught out in the middle of field during a hailstorm.  Another known death that was caused by hail in the United States was back in 1979 in Ft. Collins, Colorado and more recently in March of 2000 when a pizza deliveryman was killed by softball size hail in Texas. Things may be a little different overseas, however. Storms that occur in China, India, Italy and Russia are also sometimes capable of producing winds high enough to sustain large hail. Sadly, some of the buildings people live in in these areas are poorly built and can’t withstand some of the larger hail and stronger storms, so hail related deaths are very possible. While hail-related deaths are rare just about everywhere, injuries still occur quite often.  Most of the time, the injuries are a big bump on the head when someone decides to check out a storm as it passes over head.