SAN ANTONIO – Seventeen Northwest Side families have been displaced from their homes at the Broadviewe Apartments after strong winds during a storm tore the roofs off their buildings.
A manager at the complex, located in the 200 block of W. Broadview Drive near Bandera Road, said three buildings had pieces of the roof blown off by the wind.
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Jose Barrientes described it as a "vortex" that passed overhead, shaking his entire building around 2 a.m. Friday.
"Then, all of a sudden, water started coming through the light fixtures. Then not even two minutes later, the ceilings in our apartment collapsed," said Barrientes. "Water was everywhere, all through the room, all through the living room."
Barrientes said he woke up his family and got everyone out of the home in the nick of time, just as the ceiling caved in.
Later, he said, San Antonio firefighters allowed him to go back inside momentarily, and he noticed flooding in his second-floor apartment as well as the one below his.
"There was a big hole in our ceiling, water (was) just pouring in," Barrientes said.
By daylight, the property manager had begun assessing the damage and said he found 17 units affected by the storm.
He said all of the families have been placed in other apartments temporarily.
Roofers had already begun making repairs by 8:30 a.m.
There were no injuries reported.
People in the complex, meanwhile, came up with a list of possibilities for the cause of the damage.
John Dates said he's convinced a "small water spout" passed over the complex.
"I heard a really huge burst of wind and then I had the plants fly around everywhere," Dates said. "I had to get up because I thought somebody was trying to break in. "
There has been no official word yet on what type of weather system caused the damage.