Severe storms in San Marcos tear off part of church roof

Carissa Lehmkuhl
·2 min read
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SAN MARCOS, Texas - Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra has asked Governor Abbott to declare a state of emergency after storms rolled through Central Texas Thursday night.

At First Baptist Church in San Marcos, the storms left behind a gaping hole in the roof and a damp carpet.

The storm hit as a band was finishing up practice. They had been moved to a different part of the building because of a prior graduation ceremony that had taken place in the sanctuary.

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"The director came down and heard water running and stuck his head here in the sanctuary, and water was pouring out of the baptistry and off the back wall," said Chad Chaddick, pastor of the church. "We had people here probably within 10 minutes of his texts, trying to figure out what indeed was going on because it was more than just raining into the building. We didn't know the roof was partially gone at that point either."

Along with a partially missing roof, the sprinkler system had broken, causing about two inches of water to flood the sanctuary.

Church members and staff worked to clear water before Servpro employees arrived.

"They just kind of grabbed brooms and squeegees, and they started pushing water out from the foyer," said Chaddick. "They were showing up. They had no idea what was going on. They just heard, received some of the Facebook posts, saw that there was a mess, there was trouble, and how could they help?"

Just down the road, Rush Bost thought his car would be safe from the hail under a tree.

Instead, the hail left small dents on the front of the car and the back window of the car was entirely smashed in by the tree.

"Just coming outside and seeing the branch on top of the car was probably the most devastating thing," said Bost. "We haven't had [a storm] like this in this area in a long time."

<div>Tree smashes the back window of a car in San Marcos</div>
Tree smashes the back window of a car in San Marcos

Nearby neighbors were out cleaning up branches of their own.

Some trees were entirely uprooted.

At First Baptist Church, the extent of the damage was unclear, but they are hoping to be able to host a service on Sunday.

"It's a building, but the church is actually the people," said Chaddick. "And so the church came together last night."

To report damage in San Marcos, go to SMTX Connect.