Inclement weather causes storm in tile industry

CHIANG RAI: -- Torrential rain and hailstorms in Thailand's northern province of Chiang Rai have left not only gaping holes in thousands of roofs, but also gaping holes in the roofing tile market, with residents scrambling to grab hold of the few remaining tiles on sale before the rain pours down again.

A series of recent storms, including one on Monday, has caused damage to over 5,000 roofs in Muang, Wiangchai and Padaet districts, with losses estimated at over Bt20 million.

But the roofless residents have run up against the double problem of tile shortages and bureaucracy, with local officials refusing to provide assistance until they have surveyed the damage, a process that is taking time.

Many residents have simply taken the matter into their own hands and gone to purchase tiles themselves, but have been told by the tile sellers that there are few tiles left.

As a result, prices have been pushed up by Bt4-5 per tile.

--TNA 2005-05-05

It must have been a quiet day for the editor to dream up a headline like that!!

I've seen many thatch roofs blown off during storms, but never a tile one.... From my own albeit limited experience in such observations, I wonder about the truth of reports of such massive damage in CR...

Has anyone seen such damage here in the North after a hail storm? I've been in some pretty big hail storms here, but nothing I saw ever caused that much real damage- except to those thatch roofs, which are still very common here..

For your amusement, here's a pic from a hailstorm in CM a few years ago...