Don't Drive Through Tornadoes!
Driving home from Jacksonville (FL) Saturday night, south bound on I-95, the rain was absolutely pouring down. The kind of heavy rain that causes the out of towners here to put on their hazards (HAZARDS SIGNAL YOU AREN'T MOVING) and go 35mph in the fast lane.
So, visibility is limited, it's dark, I'm cruising along making the hour and a half drive back to my place when all of a sudden I think I hear hail pelting the hood of my car. Before I even have time to react, something SLAMS into the driver side window, a tree branch smacks into my windshield, another, I can see debris flying all over the place, hear it all hitting my car, windshield cracks as I quickly slow down and start to pull over.
I take quick inventory, surveying the damage. No warning lights, no leaking, the two 9 inch cracks in my windshield (one on each side) and 6 smaller dings all seem to have not quite been enough to overcome the integrity of the glass.
At this point, I have no idea what just happened, but I'm not sticking around for the second wave, so I get the heck out of dodge and make the rest of the drive home, paying particular attention to the car to make sure nothing feels off.
I get home and find multiple dents in the hood, a couple on the side of the car, chipped windows on the drivers side, pain chipped off all over the hood, bumper, front fenders, roof, pillars, doors etc. and a pine branch sticking out of the grill that luckily did only minimal damage to a small area of the inter-cooler.
Shop just called. $7,000 worth of damage, more if they end up replacing the hood. The front bumper has to be replaced, plenty of paint work, a few small dents, and they are "combing" the fins on the inter-cooler and radiator from impacts. Dude said the only parts of my car that were left unscathed were the rear bumper and the trunk.
Now I'm stuck driving the corolla rental until 1/8. At least my insurance covers that, and all I have is the deductible. What a night!
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