Storm damage in Stafford

STAFFORD, Texas (FOX 26) -  

Imagine the feeling in the pit of Dawn Rodriguez's stomach when she witnessed the damage left behind by Mother Nature in Stafford.

"As we came through the gate, we noticed our twenty-by-sixty foot awning was basically missing," said Rodriguez. "Basically, crumpled up like an aluminum can right now."

A security camera captured video of the storm rolling in just around 6 a.m. Monday. It quickly changes from calm to a downpour into violent wind that knocks the camera offline. And the winds were powerful -- powerful enough to rip the shed posts that were sunk into concrete three feet deep clear out of the ground.

The storm was powerful enough to tear up the greenhouses at Texas Color Plant just a few doors down and it's not the first go around with Mother Nature for the store.

"The first time around, we got hit by Hurricane Ike," said Terry Mu. "This is our second time around. It's rough, but we will get through." He estimated this storm did between $1,000 and $2,000 worth of damage but he will wait to see what the insurance adjusters say..

The rest of the small Stafford neighborhood more or less dodged a bullet. The storm toppled some trees and knocked out electricity service, but didn't do any major damage to structures. But the silver lining to this storm cloud was what it didn't do. It didn't hurt anyone and that might have been the timing more than anything else

"Normally, there are people in this area, so thankfully they weren't here yet and weren't harmed." said Rodriguez.

A flash flood watch expired at 1 p.m. Monday for much of southeast Texas.

A tornado warning expired at 12:30 p.m. Monday for Galveston County.

A severe thunderstorm warning expired at 11:45 a.m. Monday for Galveston County.

A flash flood warning expired at 10:45 a.m. Monday for Brazoria and Matagorda counties.