HomeMy WebLinkAboutPicking up the pieces1
Pi ckingup the pieces
Damage
from twisters
being assessed
By ARENA WELCH
Eagle Staff Writer
Mary , Eades stood Saturday
with her back to the Doux Chene
apartment where , her .son, Alex,
lived as he and his roommate .
tried to force
Cleanup their way into
continues the roofless sec-
statewide after and -floor
dwelling.
storms /A9 "Lord, please .
watch over
these kids," she prayed, holding
her face in her hands.
It was the first time she had
seen what was left of her 19-year-
old son's College Station home
since a tornado hit the apart-
ment complex Friday.
The twister, which National
Weather Service officials -esti-
mated to be FO to Fl on the Fuji
to intensity scale, touched down
about 3:30 p.m. The scale rates
tornadoes' intensity based on
the damage they inflict on struc-
tures. The scale ranges from FO,
which has wind speed of less
than 73 mph, to . F6, which can
reach wind speeds of 319 to 379
mph.
The College Station twister's
rating indicates it could have
reached wind speeds as high as
112 mph.
Brian Kyle, a meteorologist
with the National Weather Ser-
vice, said that there was not
enough staff Friday to conduct a
storm survey, but pictures of the
damage in College Station'
but should be repaired in about'
a week, Wyant said For now,
residents in those apartments
are 'renting hotel rooms, the
cost of which will be deducted'
from their rent, he said.
Renovation of - the apart-
ments could take at least fours
months, he, said. Wyant esti=
mated . that the complex
received more than $1 million
in damage.
"We're trying to get as many
as possible ready to move back
into," Wyant said, standing
outside the management office
as workers removed trash and
debris from the wreckage just a
few doors down.
Alex Eades and his room-
mate Jarrod Brown, 19, are
moving in with their girl-
friends for now.
"There's nothing else we can
do," said Alex Eades, a sports
Cody Hess of All Phase Contractors
allowed him to estimate the
twister's intensity.
Kyle had not seen photos, of
the damage from a separate tor-
nado that touched down in
Madison County at about 3 p.m.
Friday. Both twisters were con-
firmed by the National Weather
Service in Houston.
Officials with the National
Weather Service in Fort Worth
said a tornado that was reported
to have touched down in Leon
County at 3:22 p.m. had not been
confirmed.
Meteorologists conducted
storm surveys and assessed
- damage in nearby counties Sat-
urday and did not have time to
make it to Leon County, said
management major at Blinn
College. "We lived in Tornado
Alley our whole lives and
never saw one. This is just
shocking."
Brown, a general studies
sophomore at Texas A &M Uni-
versity, was asleep in his bed
when the tornado hit the apart-
ment. He said that the sound of
the storm woke him and he ran
to the kitchen with his other
roommates. "
"As soon as I turned around,
I just saw the roof fly off,"
Brown said. "Every time we
came back in, more and more
fell down.
Eagle photo /Butch Irelamd
cleans up tornado debris at. Doux,Chene Apartments on Saturday.
Alan Moller, a meteorologist.
Old San Antonio ° `Road
between F.M. 39 and Interstate
45 reopened Saturday, after
downed power lines caused
Texas Department of Trans-
portation officials to close the
highway.
Bryan- College Station re-
ceived 1.97 inches of rain Friday,
while Madison County received
1.5 to 2 inches and Leon County
received 2 to 3 inches, National
Weather Service officials said.
Officer , Rhonda Seaton, a
spokeswoman for College Sta-
tion Police Department, said the
value of the damage likely won't
be known until early next week
because' many residents Were
"You just look up in the cor-
ner of the house to see the roof
peeling away, and that freaks
you out." - ,
Kaui and Travis Eiklor were
removing trash and - drywall
from their apartment Saturday
afternoon. Their home suffered
minor damage:
The Eiklors said they were
staying in a hotel until their
apartment was repaired.
"We're just trying to go with
the flow," said Kaui Eiklor.
"It's the only thing we can do."
• Arena Welch's e-mail address is
arena.welch @theeagle.com.
out of town for the holiday week-
end.
Management at Doux Chene
Apartments had two meetings .
with residents Saturday to,
report progress with repairs and',
let them know their options for
relocating:
Residents in about 20 apart-
ments that were severely dam-
aged will either be moved to
vacant apartments that were not
damaged or have their lease con-
tracts voided so they can move
to another complex, said Glenn
Wyant, the complex's owner.
Another 25 to 30 apartments
are .temporarily uninhabitable