ELGIN, Texas — Residents in Central Texas are picking up the pieces after tornadoes touched down across the Austin area on March 21. And both Williamson and Bastrop counties have issued disaster declarations.
Many residents woke up Tuesday morning to see the damage for the first time in the daylight.
Videos shared with KVUE show a tornado touching down in Elgin, a town about 40 minutes northeast of Austin. One National Weather Service surveyor told KVUE's Bryce Newberry they're not even sure they'll make it to Jerrell today, because of the extent of the damage in Elgin.
A property owner in Elgin said when he looked around Tuesday morning, he was "devastated." He says during the peak of the storm Monday night, he, his wife and his dog hid in a closet as what sounded like a "freight train" blew through. They "watched the roof go off the top," but escaped without a scratch.
The mayor of Elgin, Ron Ramirez, told KVUE a mobile home flipped multiple times in the twister before smacking into a building where people were living. Out of about a dozen people living there, only one was injured and taken to a hospital in Austin, the mayor said.
Other images from Elgin show electric poles toppled over and debris scattered around properties in the rural town, like roofing, shingles, insulation, plywood and trees.
Conner Board, reporting in Round Rock, found large trees strewn about a neighborhood about five minutes east of Dell Diamond off of Red Bud Lane. A U-Haul truck was seen flipped on its side in the aftermath of the storm.
One neighbor who spoke to Board said she had just finished her evening prayer when she heard a tornado and her windows started shattering.
Another man said he was struggling to shut his door due to the high winds, but was able to shut it and then made his way into his bathroom for safety.
One neighbor said that while he and his kids hid in a bathroom, the whole house started shaking and food was knocked off the shelves in the pantry.
Neighbors in the Round Rock area are joining together to put residential debris into piles, put shingles back on homes and check on each other.
Thousands of people in the Williamson County area are without power Tuesday morning. Power crews have been out since the early hours in the Elgin area.
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