26th anniversary of 1998 hail storm that struck Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – April 16, 1998… a day like any other day.

“It was just any day…a day like this. And all of a sudden a black cloud came across the sky. It it was eerie,” says former Warren County judge executive, Mike Buchanon.

Suddenly, baseball-sized hail began pelting south-central Kentucky.

Warren County Emergency Management director Ronnie Pearson said, “It sounded like a hundred hammers on a metal building and probably lasted four or five minutes.”

The storm damaged homes, destroyed cars and killed one person in Barren County.

Not only did the hail cause sizeable damage, but it also caused a blockage in storm drains, pushing water back onto the roadways and leaving drivers stranded.

“Every place needed to be cleaned up. and in Bowling Green, I mean, there was glass everywhere. It was rare to find a car that wasn’t beat all to pieces,” Buchanon said.

Originally, it was estimated the storm caused nearly $500 million in damages. About two years after the event and all the paperwork was collected, it was closer to $600 million.

The loss could have potentially been greater, had it not been for the newly installed county outdoor warning systems. They were installed just two weeks before the damaging storm.