LANTANA, Texas — People in the Bartonville and Lantana areas of Denton County spent their Fridays assessing the damage Thursday's severe storms brought to their properties.
Across this region of North Texas, pockets of hail damage damage are easily spotted -- be it to cars, patio furniture, windows, roofs and even solar panels. Leaves and limbs from bushes and trees still cover the ground, clear remnants from the storms' effects.
Storm victims like Kaylee Traughber, her husband Chase and their two children witnessed baseball-sized hail falling from the sky and wreaking havoc on their neighborhood. The Traughbers are no stranger to Texas storms; they're used to paying close attention to the forecast, and they know when it's time to park their cars in the garage and prepare for what's on the way.
Still, Thursday caught them off guard.
"We expected maybe some hail, but we did not expect for it to be as big as it was and for how long it was," Kaylee Traughber said.
Baseball-sized hail cracked their front window, dented the gutters, it pelted their AC unit, and left huge holes in some of the patio furniture.
"It sounded like gunfire," said Chase Traughber.
Added Kaylee Traughber: "My kids were scared because, hitting the front door and windows, it was loud inside the house."
Marty Board works at a car repair shop in the same area. While he said he'd normally would park his car inside one of the vehicle bays at the shop during severe weather, he also said he wasn't expecting the hail to be so bad on Thursday.
Now, his sunroof is busted out, and there are more than 50 small, medium, and large size dents on the hood and trunk of his car.
He could only watch the damage adding up to his car as the storm went from bad to worse.
"It just blew in like crazy," Board said. "The hail started off like nickel size, quarter size, went to golf ball and then baseball all in five minutes."
Cars parked near his vehicle also took a hit. Hail completely busted out the back window of a rental car nearby. Another pickup truck parked on the lot for the week is covered in dents.
For Board and the Traughbers alike, the damage feels like deja vu from what the region dealt with during a severe weather situation last summer. Only last week, the Traughbers said, did their roof finally get repaired from the damage they endured that time around.
"That one was similar to this one," Kaylee Traughber said. "But we actually had more damage this time."
Now, they'll start the process all over again -- getting another roof replacement estimate, picking out new gutters, replacing windows and screens, and hoping North Texas' next severe storm will finally cut them a break.