Texas State and San Marcos are recovering from damages after being under severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings Thursday night.
“Crews have been working throughout the night to address damages caused by last night’s storms. Most reports included damage related to wind and hail, such as downed trees, power lines and damage to traffic signals,” according to the SMTX Utilities website.
According to Campus Recreation’s Instagram story, the west side of Sewell Park is closed to the public due to a large oak tree that fell over the volleyball court due to the storm’s high winds. Currently, commencement ceremonies and live streams are running as scheduled. The closure doesn’t affect the east side of Sewell so the public still has access to the river.
“We’re waiting to see if [the Grounds Maintenance Department is] able to get [the clean up] done today. If not today, it would roll into tomorrow before we could get it done,” Brian McKay, the director of facilities management and custodial services, said. “But we’re trying to get it knocked out so that it opens up that other side for commencement activities.”
According to McKay, Sewell Park is their prioritized area for cleanup. The Grounds Maintenance Department plans to work outward from Sewell Park and has already begun cleaning the sidewalks surrounding campus.
In addition, the Grounds Maintenance Department inspected the roof of the University Events Center for any leaks or other structural damages. McKay said there were no damages found.
West campus experienced what facilities suspect to be hail damage to windows.
“As far as wind damage, this is probably one of the worst storms to affect us,” McKay said. “Some windows were broken, and so we suspect that it was probably ice-related on the windows, but those are being repaired.
McKay said campus experienced power outages from around midnight to 1:45 a.m. SMTX Utilities released an outage map to show reported outage locations and where SMTX Utilities crews are dispatched.
SMTX Utilities scheduled a brush drop-off to pick up leftover debris from the storm on May 11. They will schedule additional brush drop-offs and removal services if needed after further evaluation.
Walking trails, Purgatory Creek Natural Area and the Lime Kiln portion of the Spring Lake Natural Area are closed until further notice due to downed trees and unsafe conditions, according to SMTX Utilities.
The University Star will update as more information is released.
