Experiences. Hail.

A year ago, around 7/27/2006, a hailstorm hit the city. It wasn’t just another natural event; it was because it practically never happened, it wasn’t usual, and it was the result of what is now known as “climate change.” The size of the hailstones and their consequences made the event stand out in the media, which by the way, to a certain extent magnified it or created that feeling that it was more than it actually was. Furthermore, it is going to be remembered by quite a few people, mostly car owners who were the main victims of the event, finding themselves caught off guard and affected.

That was a normal day like any other, and there didn’t seem to be a storm coming like the one that unfolded. I was with a friend drinking mate, chatting, using the internet, and listening to music, when suddenly the day turned black, it darkened, and it started to rain. Nothing out of the ordinary, but shortly after, the rain got heavier, and we began to hear a loud noise on a corrugated sheet metal roof. I looked out the window and they were hailstones, but they were large hailstones. I grabbed the little camera and the two of us went out into the street, where there was already a woman who had also come out with her little girl to see the hail. The rain, the darkness, and the hailstones were impressive—the size of the hailstones—and right then we saw a car pass by with its rear window smashed, and we looked at it in surprise. A short while later, two, three, four, and all the passing cars had broken rear and front windshields, and all the sheet metal was dented by the ferocity of the storm. I remember we were under cover and yet we still got a little wet from the splashing. And we began to see how some drivers who park their cars on the sidewalk would come out and put them under cover by pulling them up onto the sidewalks, preferably on all the corners. It was so severe that there were injuries from the impacts received, and there were also traffic accidents, although this is common with or without hail. And then the usual: flooded streets, evacuated people, and everything that happens whenever there is a severe storm.

A link
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/826643
(originally published on 7/27/2008)