SAN ANTONIO – At least four tornadoes have hit parts of San Antonio and its suburbs, damaging dozens of homes but causing no major injuries.
A National Weather Service survey team confirmed that a tornado struck a residential area about 5 miles north of downtown around midnight Sunday.
San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Woody Woodward says 43 homes were damaged in the area, including three that collapsed, along with eight apartment buildings. He says five minor injuries were reported.
Another tornado was confirmed in northeastern San Antonio. Woodward says more than 100 structures citywide were damaged.
The weather service confirmed a third, weaker tornado about 10 miles northeast of downtown in Bexar County. County spokeswoman Monica Ramos says 30 to 40 homes were damaged in two adjoining subdivisions in the area.
The fourth tornado was an EF-0 with 85 mph winds near Garden Ridge with a path of 0.70 miles, officials said.
The San Antonio Fire Department reports more than 100 homes have been damaged following the storms in the greater SA-area late Sunday and early Monday.
The SAFD said at least 43 homes were damaged near Linda Drive on the city's North Side alone. Five or six people suffered minor injuries such as cuts or scrapes, firefighters said.
Both a home and a school nearby also caught fire.
Firefighters also were called to a three-story condo in the 7700 block of Broadway that collapsed late Sunday night.
Firefighters said when they arrived there they quickly realized they needed extra crews.
Red Cross is now helping to set up a shelter for the people displaced. No one was hurt in the collapse.
There are also extensive reports of damage in both The Glen and Camelot subdivisions, Monica Ramos, a public information officer for Bexar County said.
Two nursing homes in that area are working off of auxiliary power, Ramos said. Five local fire departments are assisting the at least 15 homes that have been damaged by overnight storms. No one has been hurt.
Ramos said that CPS Energy is currently working to address downed power lines and that Bexar County Public Works crews are working to remove downed tree limbs to allow emergency vehicles to enter the area.
County officials are coordinating with local agencies to provide assistance to affected residents in the area starting at daylight, Ramos said.
The storms Sunday night moved quickly through San Antonio's Northeast side but packed a punch. Extensive damage was reported along Highway 281 and the Olmos basin.
KSAT crews reported roofs ripped off and multiple trees down on cars along Linda Drive, just west of 281.
One neighbor described said the storm sounded like a “freight train.”
Tera Thatcher said she and her husband were in their home; when her husband opened the back door, “it (the wind) blew him down."
The winds were so strong it pushed a truck into a tree.
The rain caused several common low water crossings to flood.
The National Weather Service said they will be sending teams out into the field on Monday to assess the damage.
.@SATXFire units have started to clear up some of the debris that is blocking the road on Linda Dr. #KSATnews #StormChaser pic.twitter.com/UKhoKFrVlG
— Adrian Garcia (@KSATadrian) February 20, 2017
SA (Linda Dr.) resident said it sounded like a freight train hitting her home as she and her husband took safety #KSATnews #StormChaser pic.twitter.com/WTDSPkwU52
— Adrian Garcia (@KSATadrian) February 20, 2017
At one point, the CPS Energy outage map showed 44,000 customers without power.
Pictures sent into the KSAT newsroom show damage to a Dairy Queen on Pat Booker Road on the Northeast Side. The building's windows were blown out and part of the roof collapsed.