VIDEO: Chaotic circus crowd evacuates amid feared tent collapse

ANGLETON, TX (KTRK) -- Laura Solis was enjoying the circus with her family when she and everyone else in the audience got an unpleasant surprise.

"My daughter started crying," Solis said.

The weather took center stage, booting off the bedazzled performer and sending the crowd running for the nearest exit. Heavy wind, rain and hail descended upon the circus tent.

"You could hear a little crack, and that's when everybody started screaming in the corner where we were sitting," Solis said, "The tent was coming down. It didn't collapse completely, but it was coming."

Solis caught all the mayhem on her cell phone camera.

"Circus security, they were telling us it would be safer in our vehicles. So we ran out, we had water up to our knees," Solis said, "I mean, hail was hitting me, which was not fun."

According to Angleton police, no one was injured.

The ringmaster with the family-owned Carson and Barnes Circus explained how this happened.

"It was windy, but the ground was a little soft. So the stakes we use to tether down the tent did come loose because of the mud," Jairo Ojeda said. "So the tent just went a little bit over the seats. Some people really freaked out, and I understand, it is a scary situation."

Ojeda said he knew the weather was supposed to be pretty bad, but that the tent can withstand winds up to 70 miles per hour.

Solis hopes managers at Carson and Barnes Circus will think twice before starting another show in a Texas thunderstorm.

Anyone who had to evacuate the tent Friday night in Angleton can call Carson and Barnes Circus at 580-743-7292 for a refund or tickets to another show.