Newly constructed “hail nets” shield new Passats at the Chattanooga Volkswagen production plant.Hail stones Friday bombarded vehicles in a barrage that lashed Chattanooga with a ferocity not seen in almost a year.
Concentrated showers of golfball-sized hail rained onto anything not under a roof, damaging thousands of cars — including one owned by WRCB Channel 3 chief meteorologist Paul Barys.
“We had golfball-sized hail falling at the studio, and it hit everyone’s car,” he said.
Businesses with hundreds of vehicles outside, such as auto dealerships and vehicle manufacturers, especially were exposed to damage, he said, which can strike without warning and is hard to track.
Volkswagen officials said Monday the automaker was bringing in experts to examine more than 1,000 Passats that were awaiting shipment in a parking lot at the Enterprise South plant when the hail hit. As the storms approached, VW workers drove some vehicles under the plant’s hail net, which is about 30 percent to 40 percent installed, said VW spokesman Guenther Scherelis.