SAN ANTONIO – UPDATE: The Northern Hills Tornado path length has been extended 1.5 miles to the northeast, the National Weather Service tweeted Thursday morning. The rating remains an EF-1 with max winds around 105 mph.
The Northern Hills Tornado path length has been extended 1.5 miles to the northeast. Rating remains an EF-1 with max winds around 105 mph. pic.twitter.com/0bSNMzjyVb
— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) February 23, 2017
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(Original Story)
People in the Northern Hills neighborhood along Putting Green tried to stay positive Monday as they picked up pieces of their homes and possessions that had been battered and broken by Sunday night's storms.
"The devastation on this block is terrible," Lupe Grijalva said.
The National Weather Service confirms an EF-1 tornado packing 110 mph winds tore down Putting Green, not far from Nacogdoches Road and Thousand Oaks Drive.
A roughly 8-foot section of tree root was ripped from the ground, which caused the trunk and branches to land on a car in a neighboring driveway.
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It wasn't the only car crushed by limbs during the storm.
"I know this is not the worst anybody's ever seen but for it being the first time we've ever been involved in something like this, it was just very drastic and scary," said Lauren Sengebush.
"Our bed is right between the windows and it was just 'blap blap blap blap,'" said Carole Harris, describing the sound of the tornado. "Around 3:30 in the morning, our daughter's ceiling collapsed. So we have big holes in our roof right now."
Luckily, Harris's daughter was not in bedroom when the collapse happened.
Also on the Northeast Side, a transmission tower near Uhr Lane and Higgins Road was twisted and tangled by the powerful winds.
Part of the tower broke off and was tossed roughly a quarter mile.
Jason Wingfield's home sits beneath the tower, where part of it fell Sunday night.
"My son got an alert on his phone and we waited a few minutes and it came on the TV," he said. "And literally, maybe two minutes after that, you heard this thing coming down."
Neighbors and work crews began cleaning up the storm damage along Putting Green on Monday.
Left with a mess of insurance claims, people living in the area are thankful the storm wasn't worse.
"You know, yesterday was a great day and today, look what happens," Grijalva said. "You can't take life for granted."
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