D'HANIS, Texas – Residents in the Medina County community of D’Hanis are recovering from what many of them are convinced was a tornado.
Heavy rain, strong winds and super-sized hail pounded the area late Wednesday night, causing heavy damage to homes and cars.
Ryan Clark and his family took shelter in their bathroom as soon as they noticed the storm rolling in.
“It sounded like someone was just standing on the side of the house, hitting it with a sledgehammer,” Clark said. “Softball-sized hail come through the windows, and ended up all the way down the hallway, through the house.”
The hail left pock marks all over the siding of his home and broke several windows.
Clark and his wife returned Thursday morning to clean up the mess after spending the rest of the night with relatives.
“It’s bad,” he said. “There’s a lot of glass inside. There’s a lot of water damage on our furniture.”
For Raquel Morin, the bigger concern was for the safety of people, including her family and her neighbors.
“It was something I hope we never have to go through again,” she said through tears. “It’s just overwhelming.”
While Morin’s home also took a beating, she credits their safety to a brand new storm shelter she and her husband had just installed Monday.
Morin said her friends thought she was crazy.
Thanks to the shelter, though, they were able to open their doors to neighbors.
“I’m thankful that we invested the money for that. I hoped to never use it,” Morin said. “We were just there. We had lamps in there and just, kind of, praying, honestly.”
Now, residents are focused on making repairs and putting the town back together again.
“Everybody’s safe. Nobody got injured. That’s the main thing,” Clark said. “Say your prayers for little old D’Hanis. We need it.”
(DHanis Hail Damage April 2021)
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