» North Austin apartments heavily damaged by wind,
Roaring noise preceded terrifying minutes at complex.
Residents of the Silver Springs Apartments in North Austin heard a loud, whooshing sound, their ears popped and some doors at the complex flew open Saturday night. During the terrifying minutes that followed, trees fell, children cried and adults struggled to keep calm in the face of what they called a tornado.
The storm, which cut a wide swatch across Central Texas, also knocked over the trucks at the U-Haul Moving & Storage of Rundberg on North Interstate 35 and hit the Central Market on North Lamar Boulevard, leaving outdoor areas littered with heritage trees, as if an angry giant pulled up some by the roots and karate-chopped others.
Silver Springs residents shot cellphone photos Sunday of a partially collapsed roof, broken windows and what was left of the carport — a heap of twisted metal with large pieces flung yards away and over a fence.
Sometime before 10 p.m. Saturday, it started to rain hard, residents said. They heard a roaring noise, along with wailing car alarms and sirens from emergency vehicles.
“I thought it was the end of world. I thought God was coming,” said Jaleel Hureskin, 13. “I was panicking. It felt like the building was shaking.”
Roxanne Perales, 27, said part of the roof blew off and rain started coming in as she tried to comfort her younger brothers. Her boyfriend, Guadalupe Orona, 37, fought for several minutes to close and lock the front door.
“I was scared (thinking), ‘What if the door flies open? What if it sucks me in?’ ” Orona said.
Victor Gardner, 22, said he was watching TV when his apartment door swung open. He heard the wind screeching and saw trees falling.
“It sounded like a leaf blower,” said Sergio Morales, 17.
“It was much louder than that,” said Danielle Jones, a 33-year-old who moved to Austin after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”
In all, 24 units were evacuated Saturday night, but most residents were allowed to return Sunday.
Farther west, Central Market, which closes at 10 p.m. was largely empty because of the tornado warning, spokeswoman Kristy Ozmun said.
The doors to the main entrance were thrown off their tracks and the air conditioning unit on the roof was moved a foot from its base, she said. An outdoor canopy on the second floor was carried away and found on the grounds of the nearby Austin State Hospital, she said.
Worse was the tree loss, Ozmun said.
Nathan Abbott, an arborist with Certified Arbor Care, had an eight-person crew there Sunday. At least 20 trees — 100 to 150 years old — were uprooted or snapped into pieces, he said.
Of damage he’s assessed from Saturday’s storm, he said: “This is the worst I’ve seen anywhere.”