VALLEY PARK, Mo. — St. Louis County homes were battered by strong storms on Sunday.
On Monday, roofers and contractors were all over a Valley Park neighborhood, Mission Hill Estates, because all the houses were littered with holes.
Neighbors actually described the damage as Swiss cheese because of the sheer amount of holes the hail put in their siding.
“It started off pretty slow and then suddenly it sounded like like firecrackers going off in the house, it was one of the most intense things I've ever heard,” Valley Park resident Mona Mercer said.
Mercer said their house and cars in were hit by golf ball and baseball-sized hail.
“Our kitchen windows were shattered, and the hail was coming in and sideways at the house. So a lot of the hail actually came in the house and was all over our kitchen table, kitchen floors, were still cleaning up inside,” Mercer said.
She said they also need a new roof.
“Pretty extensive roof damage. We're missing some shingles. And there's damage all throughout the roof,” Mercer said.
The rain came down so fast their yard started to flood and waters crept into the house.
All of this will cost them probably $100,000 to fix.
“It has been a tumultuous spring storm season. It just seems like it’s hitting every week, we're getting a little tired,” Mercer said.
Next door, Terri Banderet was lucky when it came to their siding, but the windows not so much.
“We lost three windows in the storm. I got them all boarded up now, family was able to come over and help us out. But trying to take care of that with no power was really interesting. But no damage thankfully inside the house,” Banderet said.
One street over, homes at the back of the culdesac were littered with holes and shutters were stripped off another family's home. They were actually out of town at the time.
“It was shocking for us. We were talking when we drove home. I was talking to my husband saying, ‘I hope our house is still standing when we come home.’ Yes, it's still standing but you know, siding we can fix it,” Kongthong Keopine said.
While the damage won't be cheap to fix, they're grateful they have each other to lean on.
“We're sharing plywood. People were handing out brats earlier. So in a neighborhood like this it's actually kind of easy to stay more positive because everybody's helping each other. It's a weird silver lining,” Mercer said.
Banderet said they went to check on their neighbors after the hail stopped and again on Monday.
“Stuff can be replaced but people can't. So we're all just really happy everyone got through without any injuries,” Banderet said.