While the softball-size hailstones remain only a memory – unless preserved in the freezer – are long melted, many damage reports are still a work a progress.

Count the city of Kankakee administration in that group.

During Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting, Mayor Chris Curtis reported 78 city vehicles were damaged during the March 10 hailstorm which roared through significant portions of Kankakee County – chiefly Kankakee, Bradley and many unincorporated regions in the mid- to lower-eastern portions of the county.

Damages to Kankakee’s fleet of vehicles, ranging from police and fire vehicles to code enforcement, public works and environmental services cars and trucks, included at least a few dings as well as many broken windshield.

Kankakee Police Deputy Chief Donell Austin said a significant portion, upwards of one-third of the police department’s 24-vehicle fleet, was damaged by the hail.

Austin said it appears two police vehicles sustained enough damage from the softball-sized hail that began raining down on the city at about 6:20 p.m. on March 10, they will be considered total losses.

Austin said a majority of the fleet sustained broken windows and varying degrees of dents from the hail, but most will still be able to be used once vehicle glass has been replaced.

He noted it would be impossible at this point to replace all the squad vehicles damaged at this time due the fact that they wouldn’t be able to likely find that many regardless.

One would only need to have driven through many areas of Kankakee and Bradley to see how many vehicles were at least temporarily fitted with plastic wrapping as substitute windows in days following the storm.

Curtis informed the 12 city council members at Monday’s meeting that insurance adjusters were inspecting the city’s fleet as well as city-owned structures to determine what type of damage was inflicted upon the taxpayer-owned property.

“We are like a lot of residents,” Curtis said. “We do have our own issues.”

He also cautioned the public – which can often have short attention spans – not to simply place this issue in the rear-view mirror.

He said the effects from March 10 will be long lasting.

“The recovery is still far from over. We will need to concentrate for the next six to seven months to work on this (recovery),” Curtis said. “We still have a long way to go.”

Curtis noted the city is starting to get numerous building permit requests for repairs or reconstruction. He again stressed for the public to be extremely careful in terms of signing contracts with a repair company, especially those from outside the region.

He said people seeking needed repairs should make sure a prospective contractor is registered in the city and licensed.