Glaziers booked-up in wake of Dubbo storm, community kindness on show

Owner of Orana Glass, Graeme Waters, said everybody was "absolutely flat out" after the multi-cell storm ripped through Dubbo on Thursday, February 9, causing damage to houses and cars - and especially windows.

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"I've had probably 30 or 40 calls so far," he said.

"[These include enquiries about] general hail damage to windows, and more flyscreens than broken glass - they've been shredded."

While he's been replacing windows in homes, he's seen "everything flooded, where windows have overflowed because there's been too much water, [and] carpets cut up".

He said more claims were coming in, and would do so for months, with "people taking time to do their [insurance] claims".

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He only recently stopped getting calls about damage incurred in a hail storm in Coolah two Octobers ago.

"With insurance stuff, we finish two jobs and we come back and there's six more emailed through," Graeme said. "We will be busy for at least a couple of weeks."

Graeme put in a big order for glass the morning after the Dubbo storm, when it became clear glaziers in the area were in for a busy time ahead.

"Some windows are pretty much exposed - there's no eaves, no protection. Others said hail came in horizontally, and it bounces, too - it comes in, hits the ground and bounces up," he said.

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A silver lining was the community spirit on show in the wake of the storm.

"People have been saying ours only has a little crack in it - do everyone else who's more important first - if somebody is worse off than us, then fix them first. It's surprising the number of times this has been said," Graeme said.

Graeme's brother and fellow glazier Jeffrey Waters, of JW Glazing & Maintenance, said he'd had up to 30 calls since the storm.

"I've been busy all this week, and I've still got calls coming in," he said. "It should take two or three weeks all up [to get through the jobs]."

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He said he's seen pergolas ripped off because "the hail hit it so hard it bent the sheets and all the sheets have fallen in", and he's also seen leaking lights in houses.

He has been offering to board-up windows as a temporary fix to keep homes safe until he can perform a proper fix.

A spokesperson from Western Plains Windows and Glass said they had been "inundated with calls", so much so that they hadn't been able to keep up.