HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Storms Wednesday night left their mark on the Houston area including serious damage at Hooks Airport in northwest Harris County.
A KHOU 11 viewer sent in photos of a small plane that was flipped upside down by winds. The plane had been tied down with rope.
“Those are half-inch nylon marine ropes. It ripped all those loose,” Terry Sonday said.
Sonday owns the hangar where it’s stored. He drove over to check on the plane when the storm blew in.
“I think the winds were 60-70 miles per hour out here. It was rocking the truck where I was thinking it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I was here so ...,” he said.
Another photo showed an executive jet that had been pushed off the runway.
KHOU 11 Meteorologist Tim Pandajis said wind gusts in the Tomball area were clocked at 63 mph. However, that pales in comparison to the gusts record further east.
About 15 miles away, the severe weather brought Bush Intercontinental Airport to a ground stop. This was recorded onboard a flight Wednesday night, as passengers rode out the storm.
One gust at IAH was clocked at 97 mph. That was at 9:04 p.m., and according to the National Weather Service, that’s the highest gust ever recorded there.