Storms bring needed rain but also damage

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

MARBLE FALLS — Storms across the Highland Lakes late June 12 brought welcome rain, but residents might have a different opinion of the high winds.

“I heard both of the trees go down at the same time,” resident Martin McLean said. “The wind just came through there and blew them over.”

McLean and his wife, Gladys, found a portion of one tree in their front yard lying across their pick-up truck, while another tree’s limbs dropped in their front yard as well as across utility lines.

“We don’t think the tree did much damage to the truck, but we’ll find out when we get the tree off,” Gladys McLean said.

A strong line of thunderstorms brought rain and high winds to the area. Officials believe at least one tornado touched down north of Bertram, ripping a house off its foundation and tossing it about a hundred yards away while also damaging a few other homes. (Read more here.) Even without a tornado, high winds whipped across the area snapping limbs and uprooting trees.

The wind blew off a metal roof from one of the structures at the LBJ Yacht Club and Marina as well.

While the winds might not have been all that welcome, the rainfall was. According to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s network of gauges, the rainfall measured from minimal amounts in some locations to almost 3¼ inches at the RR 2900 bridge across Lake LBJ in Kingsland.

Backbone Creek in Marble Falls registered a little more than 2½ inches with Flat Rock Creek near Marble Falls recording just under 3 inches of rain.

While there still is a chance of storms into the night June 13, the chances decrease the next several days while the hot weather remains.

daniel@thepicayune.com