Roberts County residents face severe weather scare as storm passes through region

ROBERTS COUNTY, Texas (KVII) — It was just after 9 p.m. on Thursday when the weather went from calm to very dicey in Roberts County. Residents say it was a very close call with what they encountered with severe weather as it moved across the region.

“You know it didn’t look like anything was coming this way when all of a sudden that cloud blew up,” said Chad Breeding, mayor of Miami. “National Weather Service started sending messages out over the phone. The city of Miami started sounding off the sirens. We got everybody sent to their cellars and safe places, I think pretty quickly. It was 11 miles out when it was first reported.”

“High winds, some hail and a lot of clouds,” said Terry Bessire, maintenance supervisor for Roberts County.

There were no reports of fatalities or injuries. There were reports of damage due to downed powerlines, damage to trees and to fences along ranches at FARM 283 Road.”

“A few trees down, a lot of mailboxes,” said Bessire. “I see a trampoline move from a backyard to a front yard. I was told that we lost a pumphouse this morning.”

“There happened to be a car that got trapped in a powerline as poles fell down around it, so it had to sit there a while till Xcel Energy came out and de-energized the line, so that was probably 30 minutes from the time they called it in,” said Breeding.

After experiencing a close call on Thursday night, residents tell said you can’t let your guard down as the elements are setting up for the next 48 hours to experience more storms over Friday, Saturday and possibly into Sunday.

The National Weather Service did confirm one tornado on Thursday night in Roberts County. There may have been a second tornado, but the NWS is still working to confirm if there was a second tornado.