Hailstorm Damages Airport, Parks, Buildings

A hailstorm that buffeted parts of San Angelo with chunks of ice and sustained winds in excess of 90 mph damaged several hangars and aircraft at San Angelo Regional Airport and felled at least 13 trees in local parks.

The storm, which struck about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, caused in excess of $250,000 in damage to City property at the airport, including executive hangars whose roofs were peeled back and whose rollaway doors were pushed off their tracks. That figure does not include private hangars or a dozen private aircraft that suffered damage either from hailstones or hangar doors falling on them. In excess of 50 rental cars were dented by hail.

The only damage to the terminal renovations that are underway was a cracked window in the air traffic control tower, which measured sustained straight-line winds of 91 mph at 8:26 p.m. The tower also sustained some exterior damage.

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Above: A roofing membrane that was blown off an airport hangar onto a nearby electric pole at Mathis Field in San Angelo. (Contributed/Anthony Wilson)

Hail damage was otherwise found in the terminal on a column, to an air-conditioning unit and to a jet bridge. The roofs of all City-owned buildings at the airport will undergo a more extensive assessment.

Operations crews have spent today attending to damage to parks, traffic signals and street signs, and clearing debris from streets.

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Above: A tree that was blown down at the Emergency Operations Center at Mathis Field. (Contributed/Anthony Wilson)

Harmon Park (also known as Picnic Bend Park) at 1201 N. Veterans Memorial Drive lost three trees – a large pecan, a medium-sized red oak and a mesquite. A large red oak was blown down at Kid’s Kingdom, where a playground fence was also damaged.

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Above: Crew cleaned up fallen trees and debris from Kid's Kingdom downtown on Thursday morning. (LIVE! Photo/John Basquez)

Lake Operations crews removed nine downed trees from parks and City property around Lake Nasworthy. Operations Director Shane Kelton reported 25 trees were so badly damaged at Spring Creek and Middle Concho parks – Nasworthy’s largest and most popular parks – that they will need to be removed.

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Above: Broken limbs littered Middle Concho Park Thursday morning. (LIVE! Photo/Matt McDaniel)

The winds caused the trunk of another tree to shatter at the Emergency Operations Center at the airport and an AEP power pole at Unidad Park, 3245 Vista Del Arroyo, to lean. AEP crews are attending to the pole.

Operations crews also placed barricades around a fire-damaged building at South Chadbourne Street and Avenue B whose walls were knocked over by wind gusts.

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Above: The old boot store at S. Chadbourne and Ave. B that was a burned out hull of an old building experienced a collapse of its south wall. City crews were picking up the bricks and Ave. B was roadblocked Thursday. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)