SOUTH PADRE ISLAND (ValleyCentral) — Island residents are dealing with damages after severe weather moved into the area Monday night.
The damage extends from homes and businesses to the island’s convention center, which lost nearly two-thirds of its roof.
“The convention center sustained quite a bit of damage to the roof. They’re assessing that as we speak to try to figure out what they’re going to do with that roof,” South Padre Island Fire Chief Jim Pigg said.
According to the Valley Storm Team, the radar estimates that wind speeds reached about 70 miles per hour.
Residents of one condominium complex are describing the experience and the intense structural damages.
“It sounds like the world came to an end. And it was a huge palm tree come down, and the roof came off the back of the building, or what I call the back of the building, exactly the base side. And that roof rolled back over on top of all this, and a lot of the air conditioners were rolling across the roof. We got quite a bit of structural damage,” resident Ed Slatt said.
With hurricane season approaching, officials want to remind the public it’s never too early to start preparing.
“Make sure that you have a plan, what you’re going to do, where you’re going to go if we do have to evacuate, and making sure that you have all the right information and the right numbers to call and just paying attention to what’s going on,” Pigg said.
City leaders and officials are assessing the damage, discussing how they intend to move forward.
