Neighbors are stepping up to help one another after massive hail shattered windows, damaged homes, and totaled vehicles across parts of Real County.
LEAKEY, Texas — Powerful storms swept across parts of south Texas late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, unleashing massive hail that shattered windows, pummeled vehicles and punched holes through roofs in and around Leakey.
Now, residents and crews in Real County are beginning the long process of assessing the damage and clearing debris left behind by the destructive storm.
Authorities say the hardest-hit areas were in the southern part of the county, where large, jagged hailstones caused widespread damage to homes, vehicles and businesses.
Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the storm cell moved through the region after forming near the Del Rio area.
“We didn’t have a tornado actually hit, but we had a tremendous amount of very destructive hail,” Johnson said. “Some of the hail was almost baseball-sized, and it was jagged. It caused a lot of damage.”
According to Johnson, the hailstorm totaled vehicles, damaged roofs and shattered windows across the small Hill Country community.
“It just made a pass through here, totaling out vehicles, damaging homes, tore up a lot of our businesses,” Johnson said. “Some of our folks even lost the RVs they were living in.”
Despite the damage, authorities say no one suffered serious injuries.
“Some people did get hit in the head with some ice, but nothing serious,” Johnson said. “Nobody had to be hospitalized. We’re grateful nobody really got hurt.”
Emergency officials with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) are now working with county leaders to evaluate the damage and determine what assistance may be available to residents.
County commissioners and sheriff’s deputies have also been going door-to-door to check on residents and help document damage.
Officials say information about filing claims — particularly for those without insurance — will be posted through county resources.
The owner of Clearwater Ranch and Resort, Steve Davis, said they received emergency alerts warning people to leave mobile homes and seek stronger shelter.
“We got alerts on the phone that a supercell was headed toward Leakey,” Davis said. “We’d never gotten alerts to vacate mobile homes before.”
Davis said his family gathered their grandchildren and moved into a sturdier building on the property.
From there, they watched the storm intensify.
“It started as pea-sized hail, then marble-sized,” Davis said. “But the last ten minutes — it was baseball-sized, tennis-ball-sized hail. It just devastated everything.”
He said the hail accumulated so heavily that roads were briefly covered with several inches of ice.
Fortunately, Davis said no injuries were reported among guests staying at the resort’s rental properties.
For Leakey resident Charlie Lynam, the storm left a trail of destruction across his property.
Lynam said powerful winds and baseball-sized hail shattered windows and destroyed most of his vehicles.
“I have seven vehicles, and now I’m down to one,” Lynam said.
He said the hail broke skylights in his home within minutes of the storm’s arrival, sending ice pouring into the house.
“Hail was coming through the roof,” he said. “We were inside with plastic trying to cover the furniture.”
He estimates the most intense part of the storm lasted around 40 minutes.
Even so, Lynam said he’s focusing on moving forward.
“Where do we start to clean up?” he said. “Get a rake, get a mop and go to town. No sense crying about it,” said Lynam, “We lost all the windows in this downstairs bedroom. We lost. We just lost a lot.”
Sheriff Johnson says that spirit of resilience is common in the tight-knit Hill Country community.
“We’re too small to be indifferent to each other,” Johnson said. “Everybody pulls together. People are letting neighbors stay in their homes, helping however they can.”
As damage assessments continue, local leaders say their focus remains on helping residents recover.
While the hailstorm left behind widespread destruction, officials say the outcome could have been far worse.
“We can replace vehicles and repair homes,” Johnson said. “The most important thing is that no one was seriously hurt.”
Sheriff Johnson said anyone who sustained damage can report it here: damage.TDEM.Texas.gov.