SABINAL, Texas – Fallen limbs, mangled roofs and uprooted trees littered the City of Sabinal on Wednesday.
Severe weather rolled through the small city in Uvalde County late Tuesday night. At its peak, American Electric Power (AEP) Texas said 35% of the city’s residents had lost power.
As power company crews replaced fallen poles and the sound of chainsaws filled the air, residents and cleanup crews marveled at the mess.
“I’ve been around these parts for 35 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said contractor Tony Davis from Above All Tree and Services as he took a break from cutting through a fallen tree.
In a disaster declaration made Wednesday, Sabinal Mayor Erik J. Gomez said that the city experienced extensive storm damage from “wind, rain and possible tornado damage.”
Gomez told KSAT that many in the city think it was a “little tornado.”
The National Weather Service would have to survey the damage to confirm if it was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds. As of Wednesday afternoon, the NWS did not plan to send anyone out to Sabinal.
However, an NWS meteorologist told KSAT that what they’d seen appeared consistent with straight-line winds between 60 and 80 miles per hour, not a tornado.
“Based on photos, ground reports from emergency management, and radar data, the damage that occurred in the Sabinal area Tuesday night is most likely associated with straight-line winds. This is a good example of how high winds can be produced by more than just tornadoes. When looking at the images, we can look at trees, roofing, power poles, and other damage indicators to get an idea of what the wind speeds might be. Structures are susceptible to wind at varying degrees, based on the quality of construction and the angle at which the wind impacts it. Images we have gathered from Sabinal suggest wind speeds of 60-80 mph likely occurred to produce this straight-line wind damage.”
National Weather Service Meteorologist Jason Runyen
Gomez told KSAT he did not know of any injuries from the storm.
According to state law, the disaster declaration activated the City of Sabinal’s emergency management plan and can last for up to seven days.
“So basically, we need some state help,” Gomez said. “We need some state resources to help us get this right.”
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