Thunderstorms, wind cause damage across San Antonio

Six more inches of rain needed to get SA out of drought

SAN ANTONIO – Dark clouds moved into the San Antonio area Friday evening, bringing with them high winds, lightning and a cool down from the scorching heat.

On Potranco Road, traffic had to be diverted because of a telephone pole that shifted, causing concern. Scaffolding blew off the flyover under construction at 1604 and 281, sending debris onto 281 below. Several cars were reported to be damaged.

A tree tipped over on Keats Street on the city's South Side, while Rosie Ureste was at the grocery store.

"When I came home, neighbors were calling me that your tree fell," said Ureste. "I'm glad nobody got hurt."

Her daughter, Julia, panicked, trying to look for her dogs, cat and the neighborhood children.

"Kids are always playing basketball right here in the next house," she said.

The National Weather Service said wind gusts went as high at 70 mph. The airport reported gusts of up to 50 mph. The gusts came from a storm that developed in the Hill Country, but broke apart as they began to enter San Antonio.

But for many, the evening had its share of excitement with a chimney knocked off an apartment building in Castle Hills, a tree blocking Dominion Drive and plenty of other scattered problems. Folks in Fair Oaks Ranch received about an inch of rain.

It's predicted that to get San Antonio out of the drought, about seven inches would be needed.

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