For approximately 15 minutes on Monday, August 11, hail, in some accounts the size of golf balls came pouring down from the skies overhead, as part of a giant rainstorm that flooded many local streets.
“I was delivering civic association flyers with my daughter, and she suddenly started to feel cold,” said Locust Point resident Jerry Landi. “I realized that the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees all of a sudden, and then hail came pouring down.”
Landi said that aluminum siding on the Locust Point Civic Association clubhouse was dented with some black streaks, and cars up and down the streets of the tight-knit community had new dings in them.
“My backyard was filled with at least an inch of ice,” Landi continued. “I have never seen anything like this before. We have had rain, snow, and sleet but never hail and never in the summer.”
Landi added that the LPCA just had a flower sale, and that now all of the flowers, along with people’s garden were either damaged or destroyed.
“I had eggplant, tomatoes, and artichokes growing in my yard that were destroyed,” Landi continued. “The man next door to me was devastated, because he uses this years tomatoes seeds to plant next years, and now he may not be able to do that.”
Over at the Silver Beach Deli at 4 Plaza Place, the hail was so fierce that it knocked leaves off of trees and petals off of flowers around the shop.
“I have never seen hail like that, coming down that size,” said Anthony Murphy, who was surprised by the type of precipitation. “At first, I didn’t think people I told would believe me because the hail seems to be confined to a small area.”
Murphy called up his dad right away, to tell him what was going on, detailing to him exactly what he was seeing along with many other shocked residents and visitors to the tight knit waterfront communities.
When he called his wife, who was not far away, Murphy realized what was happening near the store was unique.
“I just thought it was pretty wild and crazy,” Murphy explained. “It seems like only a few locations were hit, which is why I ended up saving it in my freezer. This is all the proof I have.”
