Repairs ongoing as second anniversary of 2020 Canberra hailstorm looms

After two years battling with their insurance company, final repairs on the couple's 1930s home have still not been completed. After hundreds of hours of negotiations, holes in the roof still leak and ceilings still sag.

Now, with the assistance of Australian Financial Complaints Authority, the situation is finally looking up.

With hailstones measuring more than four centimetres, the January 20, 2020 storm was the worst hailstorm to hit an urban area in Australia since 1999.

The freak storm smashed windows, puckered cars and sent Canberrans ducking for cover.

For Bob Clark, memories of water pouring out of light fixtures, collapsed ceilings and the sound of hail smashing through the windows of his 1930s residence are still clear in his mind.

With the sky darkening, Mr Clark headed home to check on his daughter who was on school holidays at the time.

Hail started to fall, suddenly getting harder and harder until the windows of the house started to shatter. That's when water started flooding into the house.

"Water was coming through every light fitting, through gaps down the corners of the walls," he said.

"I ran out to the garage and bought in 60-litre plastic rubbish bins that we have, they were filling with water in about a minute and a half in the hallway."

He said his daughter was "an absolute trooper, she was carrying stuff around, we switched off the power ... and tried to move things away from the water."

Ms Tucker watched the storm through the windows of the break room at her work. She saw her colleagues vehicles cop a battering and caught a lift home as soon as possible.

Walking up the driveway, she saw he family's three cars "completely smashed up," but this didn't prepare her for the extent of the damage.

Ms Tucker said the ceiling had collapsed in three bedrooms, 18 windows were broken and her beloved garden was "absolutely pummeled".

"Agapanthus that should have been in full bloom at the time ended up just being mangled foliage. We had saturated carpets and floorboards," she said.

The storm caused significant damage to homes and cars across Canberra, as the intense storm cell swept into the territory from the north-west through Belconnen, across Black Mountain into Barton, Manuka, Griffith and then south-east through Fyshwick.

While an exact cost of the damage from the storm to the ACT alone hasn't been able to be calculated, the damage bill from the entire storm system - which first went through regional Victoria, on to the ACT and into parts of Sydney - has been estimated to be more than $1.65 billion.

According to figures from the Insurance Council of Australia, almost 131,000 claims were made for damage stemming from the hailstorm, with insurance claims for cars making up more than half of that figure. Insurance claims from the ACT accounted for 57 per cent of all claims made from the storm, making up 74,660 claims.

READ ALSO:

Ms Tucker said neighbours, family and friends banded together to clean up and help each other after the storm.

"We had this beautiful working party, mopping up, getting the broken glass from walkways, just making everything safe so people wouldn't be cut or slip.

"I remember sitting down on the couch at about 11 o'clock, near the still dripping down lights on the couch. And I said to Bob, 'oh my god, with so much water in our roof, I hope we're not sitting here and the ceiling doesn't suddenly fall in on our heads'."

Almost 24 months later, she said the "complexity" of the insurance claim had finally been recognised with heritage repairs on an art deco home significantly more complicated than with a newer build.

The couple urged others to carefully consider their insurance policy, particularly for heritage homes or buildings that would not be a straightforward fix. They said carefully documenting and taking photos of all damage was vital.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: