Twister skips through San Marcos

Homes, businesses damaged in early-morning tornado

By Anita Miller

San Marcos — By ANITA MILLER

News Editor

A tornado skipped over parts of south San Marcos early Saturday morning, damaging homes, businesses and San Marcos Police headquarters.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, though dozens of homes were heavily damaged and some were left uninhabitable.

The twister came down around 7 a.m. and cut a swath near Wonder World Drive. A section of the brick facade at the police department appeared to have been sucked off the building; and parts of a metal roof from Thermon Manufacturing wound up wrapped around parked patrol cars.

Electric lines were also downed across IH-35, prompting widespread outages and traffic delays.

Apartments and homes along Center Street and MLK Drive were also hit, with the roof of a Mitchell Street apartment complex ending up almost landing on another complex on Center.

The city activated its Emergency Operations Center as police, fire, EMS and utility workers already stressed by the tornado’s touchdown began to gird themselves for the winter storm due to arrive in force today and remain for about 48 hours.

Roads were also closed throughout much of Hays County, and the Red Cross had opened at least one shelter by early afternoon Saturday.

“We’ve had no reports of any casualties whatsoever, thank God for small favors,” said Chief of Police Howard Williams.

He said the department has gone into emergency mode, with half the force working days and half working nights until the threat of flooding and ice has passed.

“We basically called in everybody that normally doesn’t work patrol. So CID, narcotics, everybody will be working patrol for the next couple of days.”

Deputy Mike Thielen of the Hays County Sheriff’s Office also reported no injuries, but said mid-afternoon Saturday that many roadways remained closed due to high water.

Rainfall amounts, though hard to set while rain is still falling, had already reached in excess of three inches in parts of San Marcos by Saturday morning. The area had been under a flash flood watch, and weather forecasters say more watches are likely.

Another threat is the arctic cold front which the National Weather Service says will begin dumping freezing rain on the area sometime today, along with brisk north winds.

“We’re ready to deal with it if it happens,” Williams said of flash floods or ice accumulation. The emergency operations center will remain open overnight and the city is also reading its citizen notification system, the so-called “reverse 911” so that individual households can be warned if the need arises.

“We’re trying to get a little ahead of things in the hopes we haven’t wasted our time,” he said.

Melissa Millecam, the city’s official spokes person, echoed the chief’s position. “What we’re trying to do is prepare now for the next round of bad weather which could include ice and could cause problems with power lines down and that sort of thing.” She advised residents to stay tuned to TV newscasts and the city's cable channel.

Richard Hageman, a Thermon VP, arrived this morning to find it raining in his office, as the building’s roof had been ripped off.

“All the files are completely soaked, the ceiling has fallen in. It’s bad,” he said.

Hageman said one employee was in the company’s Research and Development building when the twister hit. “He ducked in his closet and he’s fine. He walked outside and really couldn’t believe what he saw.”

Hageman said the company hopes to reopen as soon as possible, but “Monday is not in the cards for this building. Research and development will be out of commission for a while.”

amiller@sanmarcosrecord.com