Brownwood News – Hector Guerrero, National Weather Service representative, recently visited the Brownwood area to survey the storm damage from a tornado that touched down near May on Thursday, May 18th.
Posting on the National Weather Service in San Angelo Facebook Page, Guerrero called the tornado’s track “very unusual.”
The tornado has been officially classified as EF1, which can produce wind speeds between 86 to 110 mph.
“At its strongest, the tornado crossed County Road 478 and was about a half mile wide as it snapped oak tree trunks like they were toothpicks,” Guerrero stated on social media. “The twister also uprooted many trees in the area. Eyewitnesses reported they saw multiple vortices associated with this tornado. We are grateful no one was injured. Special thanks to John Gavin and residents living in the area for their hospitality and help with this survey.”
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“I am shocked at the hundreds of trees that were either yanked out of the ground or sheared off,” said John Gavin after seeing the damage to his son-in-law’s ranch. “Theres a distinctive path across the ranch.” Approximately 5 acres have sustained damage from the tornado, with trees split and uprooted. No livestock or people have been reported as injured.
May resident, Mary Jackson Cooper captured footage of a tornado near her home on a Facebook Live video that has since received over 75,000 views and viral sharing. Cooper went live on Facebook with the video at 7:57 p.m., with the footage lasting 1 minute and 44 seconds.
On Friday, May 19th, the National Weather Service in San Angelo issued a Tornado Warning for Southern Brown County and Southeastern Coleman County until 8:15 p.m. after a confirmed tornado was located near Trickham, or 5 miles southeast of Santa Anna, moving east at 20 mph.
The tornado was predicted to be near Bangs and Brookesmith around 7:50 p.m., and near Brownwood around 8:15 p.m. Shortly after 8:34 p.m. the funnel had passed through to the south side of the Brownwood without touching down. Emergency sirens were activated four times in Brownwood during the storm, warning residents to take shelter.