As clouds continued hanging overhead, Bobby Knight started Wednesday morning with a much sunnier outlook.
Knight spent part of Tuesday night wondering if nature would unleash its wrath on his Marion home.
“The storm started up and was getting worse and worse,” Knight said. “I turned the news on and watched it all go down.”
Knight witnessed lightning, strong winds and pouring rain.
He also received a Tornado Warning from the National Weather Service. Thankfully, it appears as though it did not materialize in his hometown.
“I expected a lot more limbs and stuff laying down,” Knight said, while surveying the area in nearby New Berlin. “I saw a couple of trees down.”
Like Knight, Carol Rittger expected a morning of cleanup outside the New Berlin business where she works.
“I looked around, and our flag here on the pole was broken, and on the ground, and our sign was blown over,” Rittger said.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 Tornado a few miles north of New Berlin.
Back in town, at least one street in the area remained covered by water and closed to traffic Wednesday, but Rittger said it was still nothing like the confirmed tornado she lived through a few years ago.
“On the other side of the street, it took the guy’s house out,” Rittger said. “And the guy up the street, it took his roof off.”
Tornado Warnings are not exactly everyday occurrences in this part of Texas. Weather records show there have been only seven in the past 10 years.
During the Tuesday night warning, Rittger said she kept her cool, although her neighbors were frightened.
“They were worried because they’re older,” Rittger said. “Both of them are 80, and they didn’t know what to do.”
KSAT 12 News also heard from several viewers who were in the same position, unsure how to react to a tornado warning.
Knight echoed the advice of KSAT Weather Authority Meteorologists, offering what he said he has learned from living in Texas for decades.
“If you’re in your house, you go to an inside room, keep your windows closed,” Knight said. “I’d even suggest you drag a mattress in there with you and get under it.”
Additionally, KSAT meteorologists said to bring a cellphone that will allow them to keep up with the latest weather forecast information.
