The storm struck Sleepy Hollow Lane and Carroll Street damaging 12 modular homes in the neighborhood. It left around a half-million dollars in damage on the two streets that are located off FM 2656 on the city’s west side.
Fire Chief Dennis K. Haas said he first received word about the tornado at 6:15 p.m. Of the 12 homes damaged, Haas said six suffered heavy damage with some shifting off their foundations. Haas placed the damage at about $300,000 - $500,000.
“It was fortunately a small funnel and of short duration,” Haas said. “It was in contact with the ground perhaps 30 seconds according to witnesses accounts.”
Haas said it hit on outskirts of town. Damage was mainly focused on one street with peripheral damage on the next street. Haas said he lives nearby and saw the funnel as it receded upward back into the clouds.
“There was considerable damage to outbuildings, fences, other valuables and oak trees, too,” he said.
He said there was only one minor injury and no fatalities.
“A woman was struck by flying debris and paramedics treated her. She did not have to be transported to an emergency room.”
“From that aspect I consider us very fortunate,” said Haas.
Rachael and Yamil Medina at 2985 Carroll Drive had their house moved off its foundations. Windows were blown out and a storage building was demolished with its contents strewn all over the yard.
“We didn’t even hear it,” Mrs. Medina said. “We saw it while looking out the front door at the house across from us and then ran. We could see the shingles coming off the other house.”
Mrs. Medina said it felt like the storm went through her house. A neighbor’s trashcan came through her front window and another window blew out, she said.
“There’s glass all through the house and of course the house is off its foundation.”
She said she and her husband ran with their three children, ages 3, 6 and 7 to a middle bathroom for safety. The children were terrified and screaming, she said.
“They are OK now, though,” she said.
She said she couldn’t remember what it sounded like.
“Some say it sounds like a plane. Others say it sounds like a train. I can’t tell you. And I can’t tell you how big it was either. It was my first tornado,” said Mrs. Median. “It felt like it picked up the house.”
But she said only one picture fell off the wall, her furniture was intact and the interior is livable. The couple will move into a motel until the house is repaired.
Mrs. Medina’s parents, Lawrence and Jan Koopmann of Hico, came to their daughter’s assistance Monday to help board up the house to keep out looters. Koopmann said he made the customary hour and a half drive in one hour.
“We heard it on the news,” he said. “I hoped nobody was hurt. Stuff like this can be replaced but a life can’t.”
Christine Bozenske with Coldwell Banker United, Realtors stood outside one of her listings at 2946 Sleepy Hollow Lane with the prospective buyer, Amy Maxwell.
The house had moderate damage compared to others. But shingles were gone, an outside deck was destroyed and the roof to someone else’s carport had been dropped in the driveway.
Ms. Bozenske said they were supposed to close a sale Friday. The tornado damage would delay that.
Mrs. Maxwell said she went into shock when she heard the news Sunday evening.
“I thought ‘why here of all places?’”
She said she is not discouraged and wants the house repaired quickly so she can take possession and move in.
Mrs. Bozenske said she has been in the business seven years and this is the first time a tornado has stopped a sale closing.
Tom and Terry Berg at 2930 Sleepy Hollow Lane had their house picked up and dropped off its foundation while they huddled with their children in a middle bathroom. Berg said he heard a sound like a freight train lumbering toward the house and when he looked out back he saw debris flying in circles.
“I said, ‘We’ve got a tornado. We need to get to a bathroom.’”
Berg said he felt the whirling wind lift the house and set it back down like Dorothy’s house in “The Wizard of Oz.”
“There was a lot of bouncing around,” said Berg. “We knew it was moving. That was an experience in itself. It lasted 20-30 seconds.”
Berg said his storage shed took off for parts unknown, but his three pets are OK.
“We’re looking for a motel that will take animals,” Berg said.
Haas was asked if sirens would have helped Sunday.
“I don’t think it would in this particular case,” Haas said. “It happened so fast even the National Weather Service was not aware of it until afterward.”
Haas said he doesn’t have a lot of faith in early warning systems because periodic testing makes people think the real thing is just a drill.
“Or they come out in their yard to see what’s going on when they need to stay inside,” he said.
hclark@temple-telegram.com
