NWS: Tornado briefly touches down in Weimar, damages high school scoreboard and derails train

  WEIMAR, TX (KTRK) -- Now that the storm has passed, cleanup is underway in Colorado County, where a tornado hit last night. That twister came all too close for some students and their parents as they scrambled to take cover in Weimar High School.

Volunteers picked up mangled metal, shattered glass and even trees that were ripped out of the ground.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado briefly touched down around 5:30pm near Weimar High School. There were people at the school's football field selling pizza for a fundraiser when it hit. Eight of them were taken to a hospital with injuries that were said to be non-life-threatening. Their Papa John's trailer was overturned during the storm.

"I hit the floorboards and I put my head down and just started praying," said District Head of Maintenance and Transportation Ricky Ramirez.

Weimar High School is closed today as officials assess the damage to the campus.

"It looks like our structures are sound. We do have a little roof damage that we're going to have to take care of if we get more rain today," said Weimar ISD Superintendent Jon Wunderlich.

Ramirez is leading the cleanup effort on campus.

"The football field, the stadium, the press box -- there's nothing left. It's just unbelievable," he said.

With all these volunteers working all weekend, the district hopes to start classes on Monday.

"When you see tin wrapped around a post and stuff like that, it was very strong and we were fortunate it just hit our sports facilities," said Wunderlich.

Colorado County Judge Ty Prause said says one train was derailed and a hospital in Weimar was damaged badly enough that patients had to be evacuated and taken to other hospitals in the area. It wasn't known how many patients were affected.

"Shingles were flying off the roof of the building of the school," Weimar High School junior Peyton Wunderlisch said. "If you look down the football field, the press box, the football field, just was gone, so all that was blown away in an instant and we had no idea what was going on at the time. We were just scared."

Prause says there was another truck that had the windows blown out and the driver was injured there, too.

An eyewitness says cemetery close to the school also sustained some damage.

Around other parts of the city, several trees were ripped out of the ground and many homes have roof damage. The storm also knocked out power to parts of the town.

Earlier in the day, some of our computer models picked up on the increased moisture levels a line of storms blowing from the west. However, KTRK Chief Meteorologist Tim Heller says no tornado warning was issued for the storm before the tornado touchdown.

More showers are expected today. Then rain will likely stick around into Saturday before clearing for Mother's Day.

If you caught photos or video of this event, you can upload them at iWitness.abc13.com or email them to news@abc13.com.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Fort Bend County residents cleaning up tornado damage

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Bayou City was slammed with severe storms on Monday, and some parts of town are still having to deal with high water and lots of damage.

Those storms actually spawned two tornadoes, one of which touched down near the Mission Bend subdivision in Fort Bend County.

"You can feel the wind inside the house, that was pushing against the house," said resident Umar Sayyed.

On a day when Sayyed is still trying to come to terms with the tornado that hit his house, the street where he lives is full of activity; insurance claim adjusters, Red Cross workers, contractors are all invited.

"The front door was locked," said Sayyed. "It was shut and it flew open."

"I got a couple of calls from customers and I made it out here and I saw what condition it's in," said Juan Villalovo with Mr. Goodpainter.

There is plenty of work to be done there, after the EF-1 tornado tore through the neighborhood Monday morning.

Sayyed pushed his mother and sister into a tiny closet to get away from the twister.

"I didn't have no time to think," he told us. "I just did whatever I could, grabbed my mom and my sister. That's all I worried about."

Afterward, the damage was -- to him -- unbelievable. Much of the roof was gone. The ceiling was gone. And the insulation was on the floor.

"I've been looking at it all day," said Sayyed. "Now I'm starting to believe it."

But his little sister's breakfast is still sitting on the table. And a china cabinet, curiously enough, survived, along with all the delicate glass and knickknacks still intact.

The family is staying with friends for now, knowing it's going to be a long time before they can come home. But they're grateful nonetheless.

"I'm just happy I made it," said Sayyed.

If your home is damaged, you should always check with your insurance company first. That hasn't stopped contractors from trying to drum up some business, even leafleting our live truck just in case we had any fences that needed to be fixed.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Tornado to blame for Fort Bend County damage

  FORT BEND COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- The National Weather Service says a tornado is to blame for a significant amount of damage to homes in Fort Bend County, in the Mission Bend area at Bissonnet and Royal Way.

The NWS confirmed a EF-1 tornado did touch down in Ft. Bend County near the intersection of Bissonnet and Gains Road, damaging several homes along Turphin Way. The tornado crossed north of Bissonnet and caused roof damage to approximately 10 homes along Royal Way, and then more damage along Havencrest and Vistamont Drive, with the path ending near the intersection of Rockey Valley Road and High Haven Drive.

"You could hear stuff flying around outside," said Umair Sayyed.

He wasn't sure what was happening, but in a matter of seconds it became obvious that his family was in serious danger. That's when his instincts kicked in.

"Out of nowhere the front door was locked and closed and it just flew open. So I grabbed my mom and sister and rushed them to the closet in the master bedroom," Sayyed, 21, said.

He, his 4-year-old sister and his mother huddled close and cushioned themselves with pillows as the house began to shake and rattle.

"It just got louder. You could hear the wood flying around and the fences collapsing and the roof started caving in and started falling inside the house," said Sayyed.

While the wind pummeled Sayyed's house for about 30 seconds, it certainly made its mark. When it stopped, the roof to the garage was gone -- sheets of plywood tossed everywhere. The damage here was widespread. Several neighbors lost fences while others were left with leaky roofs and major property damage.

"You can see my car got damaged too. Pretty bad on the back so it was pretty crazy," said neighbor Mohammad Akif.

Sayyed knows everything that was lost in Monday's storm can be replaced. He's still shaken but looking back. He says none of this matters so long as his family is safe.

"That's all we tried to worry about. I tried to get my sister to the safest place," he said.

Sayyed has already been in touch with his insurance company. We've already seen several contractors out in the neighborhood trying to solicit business.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Tornado damages Mall of Mainland

  TEXAS CITY, TX (KTRK) -- A tornado moving through the Texas City area has damaged the Mall of the Mainland, forcing an evacuation.

Bruce Clawson with the Texas City Office of Emergency Management says the National Weather Service alerted them about a tornado on radar at about 1pm. At the same time, a Texas City police officer saw a tornado hit the east side of the mall, near the movie theater.

The roof of mall has suffered a partial collapse and nearly every vehicle on the south side of the mall along FM 1774 had its windows blown out.

The mall has been evacuated as a precaution, but Clawson says they have no report of injuries. He says there is now about three inches of water and debris in the structure.

If you caught photos or video of the severe weather, you can upload them at iWitness.abc13.com or email them to news@abc13.com.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Houston woman leads charge to help tornado victims

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- One Houston woman has a connection to the tragedy in Joplin, and is rallying to get donations to the devastated city.

Lori Freese is the publisher of the online magazine Dish Houston. She was in the town a few weeks ago at a vigil for her grandmother. Her grandmother was in the hospital at the time of the tornado, but was luckily spared from any injuries or damage. It took Freese more than four hours to know her grandmother was safe. "You don't know if her building is OK," said Freese. "You don't know if she's OK. You don't know if she's scared, because she had been having heart episodes because she had been having heart episodes every time she got scared."

Freese is hoping to gather donations of clothing, diapers, and other necessary materials. You can drop off those locations at both Katz's Deli locations on Westheimer and in The Woodlands.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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