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Area bounces back after storms
By Zach Markovic, zmarkovic@starlocalnews.com
The all clear signal went out and fortunately a day after some of the heaviest storms the Metroplex has seen in years there were no fatalities.
The storm tore multiple paths through the area Tuesday afternoon with the southern and eastern portions of the area receiving the brunt of the storm.
The National Weather service had agents in the field all of Wednesday surveying damage from the heaviest hit areas in the Metroplex. They identified three areas that had experienced tornado activity and had not categorized the size of the tornadoes at time of press.
Ef is the rating system used by meteorologists use to rate tornado sizes. The Enhanced F-scale is a set of wind estimates based on damage. Its uses three-second gusts estimated at the point of damage based on a judgment of 8 levels of damage to the a set of criteria .
Ladd said they are still trying to determine how many tornados actually occurred but have heard of estimates from anywhere between 9-18 tornadoes. He said sometimes it is difficult to determine whether damage occurred from two tornadoes or one that simply lifted up from the ground moved, or “jumped,” and then sat back down again.
They began tracking thunderstorms 12:30p.m. around Cleburne as it moved North through the area. Ladd said that that storm moved into Tarrant and about an hour after that another one began near Lancaster which would blow East and be responsible for the later tornado activity in Forney and near southeastern Mesquite. While they tracked strong thunderstorms in the area for the rest of the evening the Metroplex was clear of tornado producing storms by 4:30 p.m. ending a four hour period of intense storm activity.
While most of the weather services resources are focused on the tornado damage, Ladd said they believe anywhere between an inch and an inch and a half of rain fell. The storm slowed as it moved its way across the area he said there was a growing concern that flash floods might occur.
“We certainly have vivid memories from the past from storms like this,” Ladd said. “You always think about flash flooding especially as the system begins to slow.”
But the system has moved on without further damage and is mainly out over the Gulf of Mexico for now. The weather service does expect some heavy storms to hit the central gulf states, though they do not believe they will be as strong as the ones that struck here.
The weather outlook seems to clear up for the rest of the week giving the Metroplex a respite from the heavy spring storms.
“This was a fairly typical springtime situation with a pretty vigorous upper level system and a storm that moved in from of the west at the same time,” Ladd said.
Sunnyvale seemed to miss the brunt of the storm as it split and went through Garland on its way north or through Forney.
Emily Vanik, spokeswoman for Sunnyvale ISD, said early reports show no damage to the district. She said she credits the preparation faculty does over the summer and the attentiveness of the students during the inclement weather as to why no serious issues occurred.
The district implemented inclement weather procedure twice as the storms rolled across the area in waves. By having close communication with the town they were able to get some of the students out and on their way during the lull between the two storm fronts.
As the second storm raged through around 3:30 p.m. students, faculty and parents who were in there cars waiting to pick their students up were all brought into the interior of the schools to wait out the storm.
Buses and students who were not able to leave early did not get the all clear to leave until 4:30 p.m.
“In situations like this the most important thing for our district is to have the proper procedures in place,” Vanek said. “Our teachers are well trained and have practiced for situations just like this and responded properly.”
Scott Campbell, Sunnyvale town manager, said the town had great communication between sheriff department, volunteer fire department and school.
“We set sirens off three times,” Campbell said. “We set the phone notification off and felt like we had a good response from the community.”
Like SISD, Campbell said they only experienced minimal property damage with mainly having to clear out tree limbs and other small debris
Wayne Larson, spokesman for the city of Mesquite, said while they had accounts of a few business with some serious damage, Mesquite experienced minor damage for the most part.
“We train throughout the year,” Larson said. “We believe in t preparedness through planning.. That helped us yesterday to act upon needed services and asses the situation.”
Mesquite administration also sent some staff from public works and equipment to Lancaster to help clear debris from some of the hardest hit areas.
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