Preliminary reports estimate damage and economic loss from last week’s windstorm in southeast Texas at between $5 and $7 million.
“Downtown Houston has not seen wind damage like this since Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Hurricane Alicia in 1983,” said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, which on Friday released a preliminary estimate of total damage.
“This windstorm will go down in the history books as one of the most damaging storms in modern history that was not caused by a hurricane.”
Thursday’s storm blew out windows in high-rise buildings, flipped trucks on the highway and brought down trees onto homes and parked cars around the region. Large transmission and power lines were also brought down during the storm.
Hurricane season opens on June 1.
“We know it’s been tiring, but it’s important that everyone is prepared for tropical threats,” Porter said. “The Texas and Louisiana coastlines are both at heightened risk for hurricane impacts this year.”
