HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Heavy rain and strong winds ripped through the Houston area early Wednesday morning, leaving damage in its path.
A Firestone Tire Shop in the Katy area was destroyed in the storm. The National Weather Service confirmed that a brief tornado hit the area around 2:45 a.m. Video of the business on Mason Road not far from Kingsland Boulevard shows the collapsed sign and caved-in roof. The store is in a shopping center. Assistant Fire Chief Mark Donovan said several buildings were significantly damaged.
Jeff Evans with the National Weather Service said the tornado was an EF-1 with maximum winds up to 90 mph. He said it was one that didn't have much of a track.
"It's not very wide, so we haven't yet determined exactly where it started, where it ended,but there's not a lot of damage on either side," he said.
Donovan said there were workers at a bar in the shopping center who were finishing up their shifts when they saw "torrential rain, high winds and heard what they described as a loud noise." According to Donovan, there was also a gas leak, and utility companies were called in to secure the gas and electricity.
Officials said the workers in the bar took shelter in the back and were unharmed.
"We were very fortunate this didn't happen just a few hundred yards further down because there are neighborhoods right behind this," the NWS official said.
The Harris County Fire Marshal said a structural assessment is needed to make it safe to inspect the buildings in the shopping center.
A utility worker suffered a minor electrical shock and was released after being treated at the scene, officials said.
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