Flooding and minor damage reported in Kingwood after overnight storm

KINGWOOD, Texas (KTRK) -- A mid-afternoon severe thunderstorm flooded a major roadway in Kingwood.

Kingwood Drive was impassable for several hours, following severe rain.

"There were cars parking on the sidewalk and jumping curbs just to get out of it," said one bystander. "It was crazy."

Joseph McIver, whose family owns a bagel shop, said he stopped to pick up a stranded driver, when he hit the high water.

"I pulled up on the curb, and my Jeep stopped moving. I broke the drive shaft when I hit the curb."

Along the roadway, some shopping centers that had been busy a few minutes earlier were in the dark. At the height of the storm, more than 3,000 customers were without power. By mid-evening, that number was reduced to fewer than 400. The water receded by late afternoon.

Parking lots were covered with debris from high winds that moved through with the storm. Trees were split in half, including one that fell on a driver.

"She said that the rain was coming down so hard she couldn't see," said tow truck operator Andrew Bonomini. "The tree branch fell on the driver's side. She was disoriented and got checked out at an ER, then came back here," he said. "She's tough.