ST. CHARLES COUNTY (KMOV) — Hail pounded parts of Wentzville Tuesday night as thunderstorms rolled through the St. Louis area. Hundreds of homes were believed to be damaged, including Doug Standish’s house in the Meadows of Williamsburg subdivision.

“It was loud, and it lasted for a while,” he said.

Standish said his house had damage to the roof, siding, doors and windows. State Farm declared the amount of damage as a catastrophe, a classification that automatically sends extra claims adjusters to the area.

Storm victims are being advised to talk to others before choosing a contractor and to beware of out-of-town contractors.

Carrie Crouch is the director of the consumer affairs division of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance.

“Make sure you’re dealing with reputable contractors,” Crouch said. “We don’t want anyone to be scammed by someone who is going to maybe do substandard work and then leave town.”

The hail was described as loud and long, lasting 10 minutes or more.

“You would have thought someone was dropping buckets of golf balls on our house,” said Karin Crowder.

Karin and Brian Crowder’s house has extensive damage to the siding and the roof is probably damaged also. But they were looking on the bright side.

“Just thankful no one was hurt,” said Brian Crowder.

Storm victims who run into difficulties dealing with their insurance company can call the Consumer Affairs division of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance at 800-726-7390.

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