Hail can be FATAL
About 24 people are injured by hail in the U.S each year, and although rare, hail can kill as well. The most recent hail
caused fatality was in Fort Worth, TX, in March of 2000. A pizza deliveryman was hit, and killed, by a large hailstone. Death
caused by hail are so uncommon that there have only been a couple other reports in the U.S. in the past 100 years; one in
Colorado in 1979, and another Texas in 1930.
The U.S. is not the only country being hit with deadly hail. In 1986, a storm producing hailstones of up to 2lbs led to the
deaths of 92 people in Bangladesh. Also, in 1936 more than 200 people were killed in China during a fierce hail storm.
There are recorded fatalities caused directly by hail that go back for centuries. Experts from National Geographic
examined around 200 skeletons dating back to 850A.D., that were found at the bottom of a lake in India. The team found
that the cause of death seemed to be damage caused by brutal blows to the skulls, and the weapon would have been dull,
round objects, near the size of baseballs. After further examination, the team determined a freak hail storm brought the
tribesmen to their catastrophic death.