Local News

Small Tornado Hits Keller

November 17, 2015 / 5:37 PM CST / CBS Texas

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KELLER (CBS11) - A fast-moving storm in Keller that spun out a small tornado left trees broken and limbs scattered. Roofing materials were blown all over at least three neighborhoods. But last night in the dark, it wasn't about what people could see that frightened them it was about what they could hear.

"I heard the high winds but then I did hear sort of a 'womp' sound," said Allison Connor, a homeowner in the Idlewood Oaks area. "It was a very strange sound that I hadn't heard before."

First there were the sounds of the tornado in the dark night.

"I heard a whistle," said Brenda Bentley, who lives in the same neighborhood as Connor. "A little whistle sound. I couldn't tell if it was the siren or the storm itself."

Shortly after, Bentley heard the sounds of the aftermath.

"I heard a lot of bumping noises," she said. "And then we came out the fence was down. So the fence was probably hitting up against the wall."

And at sun up there were the sounds of the clean up, the growls of chain saws and cacophony of choppers grinding limbs into shavings.

The national weather service says the EF 0 tornado was small, quick and focused on the Chase Oaks, Idlewood Oaks and Hidden Lakes neighborhoods.

It's erratic path of damaged roofs and splintered trees was spanned several blocks.

"You never know who's house it's going to hit or what damage its going to do," Bentley said. "It hit this one here and that one is just fine."

The small tornado's biggest impact may have been on the people who huddled in closets and bathtubs listening as it roared overhead.

"Texas has some real horrific storms," Bentley said. "And you just never know. That's why we took cover, You just never know."

The roofers we spoke with said that people in the affected neighborhoods will now hear the sounds of rebuilding for at least the next couple of weeks.

Tornado