The Houston area is still feeling the impact of severe storms on Sunday that brought rain, heavy winds and a tornado.
South Houston High School remained closed Monday after strong winds damaged power lines and knocked out electricity to the area. It’s unclear whether the damage was directly related to a confirmed tornado in the adjacent city of Pasadena.
School officials said on Facebook that CenterPoint was working to resolve the issue.
National Weather Service meteorologist Don Oettinger said some damage indicated the tornado was an EF1, but its strength is likely closer to an EF0, he said.
According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), EF0 tornadoes usually bring wind gusts between 40 and 72 mph. EF1 tornadoes bring winds between 73 and 112 mph.
Elsewhere in the Houston area, the winds affected more than just power lines. Dozens of photos of broken trees crushing homes and fences circulated on social media.
One neighborhood near Lake Houston was littered with tree branches. The storm completely uprooted some larger trees in the area.
The severe weather also reached parts of Dayton, with residents mostly reporting fallen trees and broken power lines. Dayton resident Sandra Orozco said her in-laws home located off County Road 6023 was nearly destroyed by the high winds and called the damage “a disaster.”
“It was just really strong winds….no tornado although it felt like one,” Orozco said. “[It was] super windy [and] we did lose power.”
Orozco said the storm blew open the front door of her in-laws’ home and they were forced to take cover during the remainder of the severe weather.
“They put something heavy in front of the door…and they just prayed for nothing bad to happen to them,” Orozco said. “[I] never imagined the outcome would be like this… My husband told me it was supposed to rain Saturday so when it didn’t rain Saturday I didn’t expect anything for Sunday. But boy was I wrong.”
Dayton resident Tamara Lynn Sayeh said an electric pole in her backyard was knocked over and came close to hitting her home. She said around 7 p.m. last night a transformer blew up outside her home and her family was without power for about eight hours.
“The wind was excessive,” Sayeh said. “Everyone on our street lost power.”
Sayeh said several of her neighbors are still without power as of Monday morning.
“I’m very surprised at the damage around Dayton,” Sayeh said. “I’ve been here for 10 years and [have] never seen Dayton tore up so badly…within minutes the storm was here.”
By Julian Gill and Rebecca Hennes (2019, Apr 8) Chron
