GAINESVILLE, Texas – Storms battered eastern Texas with wind up to 100 mph and hail the size of baseballs, damaging buildings and slamming parked airplanes into one another at an airport.
“When you have winds from 80 to 100 miles per hour, it can do damage similar to that of a tornado,” said Jesse Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “That can do some very, very big damage.”
No major injuries were reported in the storms late Friday and early Saturday, authorities said.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged, and some areas still lacked power Saturday afternoon, said Kay Lunnon, spokeswoman for the city of Gainesville, near the Oklahoma border.
Hangars were damaged at the Gainesville Municipal Airport, and the high wind shoved airplanes parked outside, said airport director Matt Quick.
About 15 planes were damaged at the airport, where about 70 aircraft are based, Quick said.
To the south in Waco, the storms destroyed a home and damaged other buildings, authorities said. Two homes were damaged in Coldspring, north of Houston. No injuries were reported in either place, and the weather service did not confirm that tornadoes caused the damage.
About 4,000 customers lost power in the Houston area, where streets flooded but no serious damage was reported, authorities said.
In Liberty County, northeast of Houston, officials reported damaged homes and toppled trees.
Associated Press
Nancy Lacy (left) hugs Shelby White in front of White’s Waco, Texas, home on Saturday after a strong storm hit the area Friday night.
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