SAN ANTONIO – A couple visiting the San Antonio area from Corpus Christi got an unexpected and unsettling ride, courtesy of nature.
Strong winds from a storm early Tuesday morning whipped through the area of southeast Bexar County where Gene and Criselda Gonzalez had parked their RV.
Gene Gonzalez said the winds he heard blowing earlier near Interstate 37 and Donop Road had died down. Then suddenly around 12:30 a.m., he felt his RV lift off the ground, turn slightly, then fall over.
Gonzalez and his wife were inside it at the time, in bed. Both of them suffered injuries.
“The aunt is getting a CT scan and the husband he just got a gash to the nose,” said AnaLisa Montalvo, a relative. “How traumatizing it was to be up in the air like that and to flip over. But we’re just happy that they’re alive and they’re well.”
Gene Gonzalez later reached out to KSAT 12 News by email and said neither he nor his wife suffered any serious injuries.
Their RV, though, may not survive, as it sustained quite a bit of damage.
At least one other building nearby also fell victim to high winds. At the Days Inn and Suites next door, the wind tore the roof right off the building.
“It just sounded like a bunch of cars wrecking right here. And I was, like, ‘Wow! We’re a little far from the highway for it to be that close,” said Carl Benoit, who rode out the storm in his motel room.
Benoit said he woke up to the howling winds and never was able to get back to sleep.
“It was pretty wild. I’ve lived in Texas all my life, and I ain’t never seen nothing like that,” he said.
There were no injuries reported at the motel. However, a large portion of the metal roof is missing now. Pieces of it landed in trees, on power lines and in the parking lot, on top of some of the vehicles parked there. At least one pickup appeared to have damage from being hit by debris.
Benoit said he moved his car before anything could happen to it.
Now, as a result of the storm damage, he’s concerned that moving also may be in his future.
“I guess try to find out if we’re gonna be able to stay here or if they’re gonna move us somewhere else,” he said. “That’s my main worry right now.”
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