Dallas hailstorm leaves brutal aftermath

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DALLAS, June 14 (UPI) -- Dallas residents set to work Thursday cleaning up and repairing damage from a sudden hailstorm forecasters called one of the city's worst in 10 years.

Tennis ball-sized hailstones began to shower down with alarming speed around 6 p.m. Wednesday, smashing windows and skylights, tearing apart trees and denting cars -- although no injuries were reported -- The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

"This will definitely be up there in the rankings of Dallas' worst hailstorms in the last 10 years," said Nick Hampshire of the National Weather Service.

Greenskeepers got busy early Thursday repairing countless divots left in the Lakewood Country Club golf course. The Lakewood Theater's tower and marquee will remain dark for some time, the handmade neon tubes destroyed by the hail.

Five lily pads on "Persian Pond" -- an installation by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly at the Dallas Arboreum -- were smashed by hailstones. Attendees of "Chihuly night" were forced to take cover when the storm hit.

Body shops, glass repair shops and repair services have been inundated with damage claims, some even having to turn away customers. Insurance companies buckled under an unprecedented call volume.