High winds rip through Houston leaving damage in wake

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Throughout the night, high winds whipped Houston and a series of tornado warnings were issued as strong storms pushed from Brazoria County to areas south and east of Houston.

Our cameras were rolling as transformers began to explode near Hobby Airport, emitting a pulsing light that could be seen for miles.

A gas station is near Buffalo Speedway and West Orem saw severe damage.

More than 41,000 customers were left without power during the night, according to CenterPoint Energy.

A viewer said his trampoline flipped over about 30 ft. into his neighbor’s yard! This is near Fry Road and West Little York.

As the storm entered The Woodlands, reporter Tom Abrahams saw winds topple a tree in his backyard, breaking one planter and leaving tree limbs in his pool.

ABC 13 Anchor Tom Abrahams shares weather damage from the Woodlands

In Stafford, some residents at the Murphy Road Mobile Home Park on Murphy Road near W. Airport also saw damage due to the wind.

One teen said she was sleeping when the storm started.

“All I heard was wind pounding on my window, and I could feel like my wall was going to come off my room where the windows were,” said Gabby Espinal. “It also opened our glass door from the back, the wind just opened it. We had it locked.”

Espinal told ABC 13 her family’s home was fine, but another neighbor was not so fortunate.

“We came out here after to see what had happened to our house, and thankfully, nothing happened, but then we walked over here and we saw that this poor lady, her house was torn down,” said Espinal.

This raw video shows the damage neighbors in one mobile home park had to deal with, and one resident even lost her house.

In one Pearland neighborhood, a homeowner shared photos of his dock, which detached from its base. The dock is now resting up against his boat.

Homeowners in northwest Harris County, specifically Augusta Pines, will have to clean up downed limbs, trees, fences and blown away lawn furniture.

Flashes of light could be seen as transformers blew amid severe weather near Hobby Airport, and some dealt with toppled trees and damaged homes.

A family in east Houston will have a lot to clean up as well after two trees crashed down. One tree fell on top of their car.

ABC 13 spoke with the mom and daughter who were home at the time, huddled inside a room. They said they heard the storm, followed by a loud pop and a crash. That’s when they realized the tree had fallen on top of the car.

“When the tornado came, I was crying because it almost broke the window from our room,” 8-year-old Samantha Garza said.

The family is renting the home and says they’re now working with the homeowner to see if insurance will cover the damage.