It was around 5pm Thursday when the residents living at the Forrest Lake townhomes say the rain started coming down. They say first visibility became very low, and then in no time at all, hail started falling.
The storm also blew a lot of limbs and branches to the ground. Many residents took cover away from windows and say they just waited out the storm, hoping things didn't get any worse.
"We got in the stairwell because the hail was so extreme and we thought that the windows were all going to bust," witness Linda Pittman said.
"Then I heard limbs cracking, so I came to my front windows and I saw limbs falling from my tree," added resident Katherine Cook. "It was about five minutes. Five minutes later, it stopped raining and I walked outside and saw the devastation."
"I got a little frightened. It didn't sound like a tornado, but the hail hitting the window was very unnerving. I got really scared," witness Jason Veach said.
"I had just come back from getting the mail and was getting ready to go back and go for a swim, and then all of a sudden, it just let loose like crazy," said resident Jeanie Conklin.
Conklin, along with other residents living at the Forrest Lake Townhomes, were up early Friday morning taking a look at all the debris still scattered.
"I'm very grateful that everything is pretty much intact, but still shocked as to the damage," said resident Curlie Jackson.
Jackson tell us she was at work when the storms blew in and it was dark when she got home. So on Friday morning, she's finally getting to see the damage.
"I was really surprised first of all, and it was really eerie to see all that it caused," she said. "I could not see what was going on because it was dark off in here."
"I saw the hail, but I didn't see any of this and my daughter came home and said, 'Oh my God, there's trees down,'" said resident Chris Roberts. "I walked out and was like, Oh my God. It's a mess."
Just around the corner from that complex, a huge tree fell onto a car.
Most of the people with whom we spoke say they can get the damage cleaned up. They are just happy nobody was injured and none of the actual townhome buildings were damaged.
House takes lightning strike
There was quite a scare for the family inside a home in southwest Houston Thursday night as it was zapped by a lightning bolt. It happened around 11:30pm at the home on Dumfries and Doud. The lightning hit the roof, leaving behind a burn mark. There was some smoke, but the house did not catch fire thanks to the rain.
The homeowners were there at the time and say the strike caused the lights to flicker. No one was hurt.
Storms knock out power
The system also produced a large number of power outages. At one point, CenterPoint Energy reported 20,415 customers were without electricity.
If you caught photos or video of weather damage in your area, you can upload them at iWitness.abc13.com or email them to news@abc13.com.
