Twister rips through North Katy: Homes destroyed, vehicles overturned

KATY, Texas – Several homes are no longer livable in the North Katy neighborhood of Windward after a tornado tore through the community on Saturday.

Several houses are missing fasteners from their roofs entirely, while others have had windows blown out and vehicles overturned.

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The newer community is located just off FM 529 north of Katy.

On Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for a storm system moving through the area.

People living in the neighborhood remember getting the alert on their phones minutes before the storm raced through their community.

“We just got the tornado alert on my phone five minutes earlier,” Tipps Rancit said.

Cell phone video from the local community shows the funnel cloud descending to the ground with debris beginning to be lifted into the air.

“I was just standing there looking at it,” Teresa Nguyen said. “I felt the wind and the rain outside and the power went out a couple of times.”

The tornado was over as quickly as it began, lasting less than a minute according to neighbors.

Nguyen’s garage door was blown in. Her home was spared the worst of the damage. Just like Rancit’s home was.

A few doors down from both their houses, several homes had their roofs ripped off, the walls of the homes peeled away to give you a glimpse of bedrooms and vehicles overturned.

“I was sleeping,” Toby Azemohor said. “Suddenly I heard the rain and noticed out in the rain, it just boomed! Bump! Bump! Bump! Bump! When I came out, it was turned around.”

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Despite all the damage, not a single person was injured.

The homes that were hit by the storm were empty. Mother Nature chose these homes, but a higher power apparently made sure they were empty.

“Thank God. I was a little scared when I saw the fire truck come through,” Nguyen said.

“Everyone is okay,” Rancit added. “That’s the most important thing.”

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The tornado has not been officially confirmed by the National Weather Service. A survey team will likely travel to the area to confirm the storm and issue an assessment.