HOUSTON – A tornado touched down in Washington County when a band of strong storms moved through the area Wednesday.
A brief EF-0 tornado touched down just north of Brenham Municipal Airport Wednesday shortly after 7 a.m., the National Weather Service confirmed.
The tornado and straight-line winds caused damage within Brenham and across areas to the north and east of FM 50 to near Independence.
Wind speeds were estimated between 60 and 70 mph, taking down power lines and several trees. The storm started around 7 a.m. and lasted about 25 minutes. NWS officials said the damage was sporadic and not continuous.
The tornado touched down briefly west of County Road 50 just north of the airport and traveled eastward near the intersection of FM 262 and County Road 65. The tornado destroyed several small metal outbuildings and took the roof off a barn.
The EF-0 tornado had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour and the damage path was about 2.5 miles long and 50 yards wide.
Residents spent Thursday cleaning up the mess.
"I looks kind of bad, but it's not that bad," resident Matt Miller said. "Everybody survived. We got through this. No one was hurt or anything like that, so it was OK."
The city's office of emergency management said they did not do a count of how many structures were damaged because there were no injuries or emergencies.
Another tornado touched down in Pearland along FM 518 near Highway 35, according to the National Weather Service.