A joint effort between the city of San Marcos and Hays County has resulted in creation of a survey for residents to report damage after the April 11 storm brought high winds, hail and lightning to the city.
Last week’s storm reached up to 70 mph winds and brought pea-sized hail. Additionally, San Marcos received between 4-6 inches of rain.
“One of the ways we get accurate historical data on storms, their oaths and the damage they cause is from reports from homeowners and business owners about damage to their property,” said Justin McInnis, assistant emergency management coordinator for Hays county.
Three homes have reported water damage and The San Marcos Public Library sustained damage. The city created the survey aiming to calculate data of other residents who have experienced damage in their homes or businesses.
Bonham Elementary had water damage in three-fourths of the building; Bowie Elementary had water damage in four classrooms.
“Having this data helps Emergency Management prioritize response, manage assets and pull together outside resources based on the responses we receive from homeowners and business owners,” McInnis said. “If your property sustained damage from flooding or other rain damage, winds, lightning, etc., on that stormy Tuesday, it would be helpful for us to know about it.”
Crews worked until approximately 3 a.m. April 12 to repair the 1,300 plus power outages. No neighborhood evacuations were called, and rivers did not reach flood stage.
“The San Marcos crews worked hard under tough circumstances like they always do,” said Trey Hatt, communications specialist. “They worked long hours and finally were able to get power restored to those areas affected.”
Various buildings at Texas State were affected by power outages, including Jones Dinning Center.
“Water intrusion was reported in about 10 out of 200 university buildings, and we are still assessing the damages,” said Matthew Flores, assistant vice president for university advancement-communication. “Twenty-one buildings were without electrical service during the outage. The service was lost at 12:03 p.m. and restored at 1:00 p.m.”
The university is still assessing all damages from the storm, and does not yet have a dollar amount as to what it will cost to be repaired.
Reporting damage to the Emergency Management is a voluntary act and does not replace informing an insurance agency. The survey, “Report Storm Damage,” can be accessed at www.HaysInformed.com under the Emergency Links tab or at www.sanmarcostx.gov/reportstormdamage.