Emergency crews kept busy during Tuesday’s storm

(Seguin) — A tornado has officially been confirmed in Guadalupe County following Tuesday night’s severe weather outbreak that also sparked lightning fires, flooded roadways, and multiple emergency rescues across the county.

The National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday that an EF-1 tornado touched down in southern Guadalupe County. Survey crews with the National Weather Service, Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), and Guadalupe County officials assessed storm damage throughout the day Wednesday.

According to the National Weather Service, the tornado reached estimated peak winds of 105 miles per hour and traveled nearly three miles over a five-minute period beginning around 10:20 p.m. The tornado developed near New Berlin and caused extensive tree and fence damage before dissipating northeast of the community.

The survey found the most significant damage north of Kunde Road where widespread tree damage was documented. Officials say radar also detected a tornado debris signature near the area where the most extensive damage was surveyed.

Guadalupe County Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Pinder says although the tornado was on the ground only briefly, it still left behind a noticeable trail of destruction.

“So it was about 10:20 p.m. It was on the ground for a short period of time, but while it was on the ground, it did do some damage to some vegetation, some fences — several trees that were damaged. One property where they originated at, the 900 block of Kunde there, it just looks like it parted around his home. His home has very little or minimal damage, but he was very lucky to have made it through that,” said Pinder.

Officials reported no fatalities or injuries associated with the tornado.

Now, as the storm system moved through Guadalupe County, emergency crews were also responding to multiple weather-related incidents caused by heavy rainfall and lightning.

Pinder says firefighters were dispatched to the 100 block of Pastar Falls in Navarro Ranch after homeowners reported hearing noises in the attic and discovering smoke after lightning struck their home. Five residents safely evacuated before crews arrived.

Guadalupe County Fire Rescue crews from the newly staffed Geronimo station also initiated an aggressive interior attack on the attic fire. Investigators later determined the fire was consistent with a lightning strike.

Later in the evening, firefighters in the York Creek area responded to another lightning-related structure fire in the 500 block of Columbia Circle. Crews encountered heavy smoke and a fully involved detached garage and storage structure. Fortunately, Pinder says firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading to nearby buildings and vehicles. No injuries were reported in either fire.

Pinder says first responders across the county were stretched thin throughout the night as multiple emergencies unfolded simultaneously.

“The Guadalupe County Fire Rescue, Geronimo Volunteer Fire Department and the York Creek Volunteer Fire Department were all busy on both of those fires, trying to make sure that they were taking care of that — all while on the west side of the county, with the amount of rain that we saw as fast as we saw it, you had New Berlin Volunteer Fire Department, Marion and McQueeny and Lake Dunlap were out — setting barricades and just monitoring the water crossings. And it’s just, it was a busy night for first responders all together,” said Pinder.

Meanwhile, crews throughout western Guadalupe County worked overnight to shut down flooded roads and place “Water Over Road” barricades at more than two dozen low water crossings. Several water rescues were also reported in the Cibolo, Schertz, and New Braunfels areas.

County officials are encouraging residents to report any storm-related damage through the Texas Division of Emergency Management iSTAT Damage Survey. Officials say those reports – no matter how big or small — help emergency management personnel better assess storm impacts and determine whether additional follow-up is needed.

In fact, Pinder says these community reports were instrumental in helping officials confirm Tuesday’s tornado damage.

“It just gives the county and the state an opportunity to see what exactly the damages are. And so, this report is more of locations. And so, if we can get some more information from the community, maybe in that Kunde Road area, like the property that experienced the damage from the tornado, he’s almost a mile and a half off the road — and if he wouldn’t have reached out, we never even would have saw the damages that he had. We never probably would have found out that there was an actual tornado on the ground. So just reporting that information to the TDEM iSTAT allows for not only our office, but the state to take a look at it,” said Pinder.

He says residents submitting reports are asked to include at least one photograph documenting the damage.

“And when you make those reports, you have to add a picture. So, you can do it on your phone, you can snap a screenshot, you have to at least take one picture. And it’s classified from major damage all the way to the minor damages. The minor damages could be a tree fell on your car and broke a windshield or went through a fence or something like that. If you feel like you need to report it or you want to report it, that’s what we would like to see. And there could be potential follow-ups and things like that. It just allow us to group all the damage from the storm together just so that we can track that information for future storms and things like that,” said Pinder.

Pinder says county officials also used a drone to capture aerial footage of the tornado’s damaged path.

“We did fly a drone. And so, when we do get that, we’re going to just post that to our social media – it just shows the path, and it’ll give folks a real perspective of what 70 feet looks like coming through a short period. And I think where they’ll really be able to see it is when it hits those hay fields and it lays that hay over and you can see actually where it’s at,” said Pinder.

Those needing to report storm damage are encouraged to visit the TDEM iSTAT website. A link to the website can be found on the Guadalupe County Emergency Management and Fire Marshal’s Facebook page.