Two weeks after the hailstorm that heavily damaged structures at the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and totaled nearly two dozen fleet vehicles, there’s still much to do before all has been restored.

In a fleet of more than 120 vehicles, nearly two dozen were damaged beyond repair. Sheriff Matt Gentry said Saturday that his office is in the process of ordering the first batch of replacement vehicles, but there’s still a wait of several weeks ahead while the vendor equips the new units to law enforcement specification.

“We’re ordering a few new replacement vehicles just to get us temporarily up and running — most of them jail vans to transport prisoners,” said Gentry. “For our patrol vehicles that we’ve lost, we’ve put in the order for those, but it still will probably be six to eight weeks before they come in.”

Most of the vehicles that were lost to the storm were either parked at the sheriff’s office or were being used by deputies in the field the night of the storm, said Gentry. Many of the rest, which deputies take home with them, were parked in areas of the county not affected by the hail.

In addition to car damage, the sheriff’s office sustained major damage not only to its administrative building, but also to the new training center, the storage building, and the Cullman County Detention Center.

Work to make permanent repairs will begin once the Cullman County Commission awards a bid for the work to start. In the meantime, the sheriff’s office has made temporary adjustments to prevent water infiltration and other damage.

“We have a company in here now putting up netting to catch the fireproofing that has fallen,” said Gentry. “Right now we’re waiting for the county commission to award a bid on the work, which I think they are supposed to look at on Monday. We have everything secured at the jail and we’re able to function, so we’ve been able to work around it.”

Gentry said he and his staff are grateful for assistance local residents have offered as the cleanup and repair work continues.

“The biggest thing I want to let people know is how much we appreciate the community’s support,” he said. “One of the reasons we live in the greatest community in the state is our citizens, and from the time this storm hit, we’ve had tremendous support from the community.”