Officials assess severe thunderstorm damage in Weatherford; no injuries reported

Officials are assessing damage from high winds that hit Weatherford late Thursday afternoon, police and emergency management officials said in a news release on the city’s website.

The city has not released an estimate on the amount of structural damage. City officials initially reported that they thought a tornado had touched down in Weatherford based on the damage, but a National Weather Service spokesman said Friday that he believes the damage was caused by straight line winds. The weather service didn’t plan to send its staff to the area to assess damage as of Friday morning.

Weatherford is in Parker County about 30 miles west of Fort Worth.

Residents were encouraged to watch for debris, downed power lines, and damaged gas lines or electrical systems, the city said in an update at around 7 p.m. Thursday “Avoid risk of fire or explosion. Residents are encouraged to stay off the roads due to debris. No injuries have been reported at this time.”

Officials also advised residents to be careful when entering any damaged structure and to beware of hazards from exposed nails or broken glass. Residents were also urged not to touch any downed power lines or other debris.

“At this point we cannot provide you with full details because members of our team are continuing to assess the situation and perform damage assessment,” Weatherford officials said in the release. “Our primary goals are to insure the safety of everyone, to continue serving the public and to provide the most accurate information we can as quickly as possible. Please avoid dialing 9-1-1 unless it is an emergency due to high call volumes at this time.

Residents can visit https://damage.tdem.texas.gov or use a QR code on the website to report property damage.

“This tool is designed to deploy early in a disaster impact area to gather Rapid Damage Assessment information revealing the scope and size of an event for public safety personnel,” the update states.

Weatherford ISD said that because of power outages, debris on roads and minor damage to some campuses, all of the district’s schools and offices will be closed Friday, March 3.

In an update about 8:15 p.m., city officials said that about 10,000 households and businesses were without power. “This is over half of our electric customers. Due to the extent of the damage our main priority is getting power back to critical care units, such as nursing homes and medical facilities. We will continue to provide updates as quickly as possible, but we do not have an estimation on when power will be restored to residents and businesses without power. We understand the frustrations of being without power and we are working as quickly as possible.”

The most up-to-date information will be provided on Weatherford’s Emergency Website at https://weatherfordtx.gov/1666/Emergency-Management.