Neighbors said the storm hit just as quickly as it left.
Willis residents in the Cape Malibu neighborhood are cleaning up after Tuesday’s storm toppled trees, knocked out power, and damaged homes and cars.
Trees and power lines were down and several roofs had damage when KPRC 2 got to the neighborhood Tuesday night.
Jason Millsaps, director of Montgomery County’s Office of Emergency Management, said 40 homes were damaged in the Cape Malibu subdivision in addition to about 30 others throughout the county.
Cape Malibu was the hardest-hit area, Millsaps said.
The county started receiving damage reports shortly after the tornado warning was issued, and he said so far, while not confirmed, everything points to tornado damage.
Lynda Koonce lives in the Cape Malibu neighborhood and said it sounded like a freight train with rain going sideways when the storm hit.
“It was bizarre, it came out of nowhere,” she said.
Nobody was injured in Willis. Access to the neighborhood was cut off for several hours while first responders worked to make roads passable.
Residents began receiving messages from their utility company to prepare to be without power at least overnight, possibly until 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
The county urged anyone using a generator to do so carefully.