A severe storm pummeled a swath of Hays County with high winds and large hail. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra has signed a disaster declaration to bring additional resources to the area.
"I thought my windows had busted out because the hail was pounding so loudly," Brandi West, who lives in a duplex in northwest San Marcos, said. "And then the power went out about six minutes into the storm."
She said her neighborhood did eventually get power back several hours later, but her friends in a neighborhood a few streets away didn't get power back until this morning. "I've never been in a storm that scary," West said. "I felt like I possibly was going to get swept away."
Although her side of the duplex was free from damage, the people living next door had a tree fall on their side of the house and break through the roof. "The only thing supporting [the tree] was the cables from the telephone pole to the house," Lorenzo Cardona, who runs Cardona Tree Care, said.
Cardona and his three-person team have been working in the neighborhood all morning, where several trees had fallen over fences and homes within just a few blocks. "The neighbor behind us wants a tree gone too," he said. "And that's just the beginning of the day."
Nick Hampshire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said there were reports of hail up to six inches in diameter in Johnson City before the storm moved into San Marcos last night.
Local social media posts show damage to home and car windows from hail. A storm chaser located west of Dripping Springs was hit by 4.2-inch hail — what some chasers call "gorilla hail," referring to particularly large hailstones.
GORILLA HAIL 4.2 inches in diameter west of Dripping Springs, Texas. @NWSSanAntonio
— MyRadar Weather (@MyRadarWX) May 10, 2024
RIP Cappucci’s windshield. @MatthewCappucci pic.twitter.com/tHW3w96OfB
Hampshire said hail is pretty common for springtime in Texas but not of that size. "That's pretty abnormal. It's very giant hail," he said. "When you get hail that big, it's going to cause some damage."
San Marcos CISD announced it was operating on a 2-hour delay Friday to allow staff time to inspect school buildings for damage.
A tornado warning was triggered Thursday evening after weather radar showed strong rotation in the storm heading directly into downtown San Marcos. The warning expired at 8:45 p.m. as the threat of a tornado decreased.
When severe thunderstorm warnings occur, Hampshire said seeking shelter immediately is important. "Those hailstones are falling at a pretty fast speed, you definitely don't want to be outside during it," he said. "It's going to hurt. It's going to bruise. It could cause a head injury."
If you have photos of hail or storm damage, send them to us at news@KUT.org.
