JASPER COUNTY, Texas – A life-threatening situation unfolded across the South and along the Gulf Coast early Wednesday morning as powerful thunderstorms blasted through the region, damaging numerous buildings and utility poles as well as causing flash flooding that submerged vehicles and entered homes that led to reports of water rescues.
Numerous Tornado Warnings, Flash Flood Warnings and even a rare Flash Flood Emergency were in effect Wednesday morning, and the severe weather outbreak that has been unfolding is likely to last throughout the day and into the nighttime hours as the line of storms races off to the east.
STRONG TORNADOES, DESTRUCTIVE WINDS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY AS SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK ROLLS ACROSS SOUTH
A dramatic video recorded by the Roganville Volunteer Fire Department in Jasper County, Texas, showed the cab of the fire truck filled with water after the first responders said they rescued a man from a submerged vehicle.
“We just did a water rescue,” the firefighter said in the video. “You can barely see the taillights of the car that we picked this young man out of. Needless to say, he was a little bit shaken up.”
The firefighter then pans the video and shows how high the water was at the time, which was covering the tailpipe of the truck.
“Sad to say, but we’re stuck in the ditch,” the firefighter said in the video. “We’re waiting on a front-end loader to push us out so we can continue doing our water rescues.”
While the firefighters are waiting for help to get pushed out of the ditch, the firefighter keeps rolling as he gets back into the truck, and the water is seen to be so high that its up to their laps.
HOW FLOODWATERS CAN MAKE YOU VERY SICK
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said all major roads heading into Kirbyville were shut down on Wednesday morning due to the immense flooding that occurred when the line of powerful storms raced through.
The sheriff’s office said emergency crews have been deployed across the region to assist with rescue efforts in the Kirbyville area.
“We have major flooding throughout the county at the midline,” the sheriff’s office said on Facebook.
Flooding has been just one of the several threats from the storm that plowed across the region on Wednesday morning.
Photos and videos show a building collapse in the Houston suburb of Katy on Wednesday morning after a possible tornado tore a path of destruction through the East Texas community.
“If it was a tornado, it dropped down right in the middle of this parking lot of this strip center and went away,” FOX 26 Houston Reporter Shelby Rose said. “I mean, there is no damage anywhere surrounding us. Not even to some small trees.”
However, severe damage was reported to the buildings on South Mason Road, including a Firestone tire store that collapsed during the storm.
While there were no people inside that building at the time, there were people inside a sports bar that also received damage.
“There were about five employees that were inside at the time because they were just closing up shop after a night of work,” Rose said.
Those employees told Rose that they heard the torrential rain, and then, as the powerful winds arrived, it got extremely loud.
“They looked up at the windows, and then that’s when the entire front paneling completely blew outward, not inward,” Rose said. “They say that they immediately ran to the back into a cooler, so no one was injured.”
The situation could have been much worse if the storm pushed through just 30 minutes prior when the parking lot was filled with 40 to 50 people.
“We could have had a very tragic situation on our hands if this storm did not come exactly when it did,” Rose said.