Storms carrying high winds of at least 60 miles per hour caused power outages and property damage across southeast Texas overnight, downing trees, power lines and even a gas port.
Heavy Storms
A line of heavy storms moved through the region just after midnight with winds that caused power outages for as many as 66,000 residents at the peak, according to CenterPoint Energy figures.
As of mid-Saturday, power had been restored for all but 5,200 Harris County homes and businesses. The number was 5,300, down from a peak of 19,000, for Entergy Texas, which services most counties north and east of Houston.
The entire line of storms carried winds of 30-40 miles per hour, with bursts in some places topping at least 60 miles per hour, said Dan Reilly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
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While there was scattered damage in Houston – a tree crashing into a home in The Woodlands, jarring a family of three, and a gas station in southwest Houston saw its port collapse – the brunt of the storms landed elsewhere.
Brazos and Burleson County experienced more property damage, Reilly said. KBTX in College Station reports one resident’s trampoline crashed onto its home, leaving its legs poking through the ceiling.
And officials in Louisiana said Saturday that at least three people there died as a result of the storms, including an elderly couple found near in their demolished trailer.
Dallas police said one person was killed Friday night when a car flipped into the Five Mile Creek near downtown, though it’s unclear if that crash was weather-related.
The Weather Service’s Log of Damage Reports Includes Structural Damage to a Buffalo Speedway Gas Station and Downed Trees in The Woodlands.
One tree there crashed into a home on Drybrook Road, prompting the Spring Fire Department to respond for a reported gas leak around 11 p.m..
Benjamin Bailey said he was watching television around 11 p.m. when the strong gust of wind came through. A few seconds later, a tree came crashing through the roof and shaking the entire house.
“The first thing we thought about was our baby,” Bailey said, adding that he, his wife and their 10-month-old were all unharmed.
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“I heard a big crashing sound, almost like the wind had really picked up,” he said. “Essentially, that’s when the tree came straight into our house, came through our kitchen, water pouring in everywhere – absolutely devastating.”
The wind was so strong, Bailey said, that before the tree fell he was already concerned it might rip the roof off his house. Spring firefighters were there within seconds, and neighbors and friends stopped by as well, Bailey said.
