North Richland Hills hit hard by Thursday's storms
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS (CBSNewsTEXAS) - Thursday night's storms caused widespread damage in the metroplex, but seemed to hit North Richland Hills especially hard.
Strong winds snapped power poles in half, flattened street signs to the ground, and knocked over trees and fences across the city.
It turned Andrea Torres' trampoline into a projectile.
"We heard a loud bang," she said. "Basically what happened was our trampoline fell on top of our neighbor's house, and then another bang and it landed in their front yard."
The storm also damaged the roofs of several homes and businesses.
"It definitely was very strong and quick, and we're just grateful there were no injuries," said Mary Peters with the City of NRH.
The biggest focus Friday was getting power restored to homes and businesses. At one point, 9,000 customers were without power, and the signal lights were out at 15 major intersections.
Oncor set up a staging area at NRH20 and dispatched crews from there to help get the lights back on.
About 3,000 residents and two major intersections were still without power, as of 4:30 p.m.
"Public Works has been able to clear all the debris from the roadway, and residents are getting started on making the repairs to their property," Peters said.
Tiffin Barkley spent Friday morning cleaning up all the tree limbs that ended up in his yard.
"I just got up and saw this mess," he said. "Got a bunch more in the back too. I'll probably do that this afternoon."
The hole in his roof will require a call to his insurance agent.
"Yea, it looks like that roof's just about bit the big one," said Barkley.
Homeowners and businesses are encouraged to report storm damage to the Texas Division of Emergency Management by clicking here.
If you need any emergent resources beyond reporting damage, call the non-emergency number so they can help connect you to the appropriate resource: 817.281.1000.
Republic Services will do a special curbside pickup for tree limbs only on Wednesday, March 8. Tree limbs must be bagged, canned or tied in bundles no longer than 4 feet in length that weigh no more than 50 pounds. If it is not bundled or too heavy for workers to pick up, it will most likely not be picked up.
The city is also arranging for drop-off locations for NRH residents to take tree limbs to this weekend. Residents should visit www.nrhtx.com/garbage for drop-off hours and locations.
