Weather wreaks havoc on travelers
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

Traffic on U.S. 59 near Hillje was snarled in the midst of the pounding rain Monday night as emergency responders scrambled to two separate motor vehicle accidents.

No major injuries were reported.

"Traffic was the worst thing," Louise Volunteer Fire Chief Bobby Popp said. "The traffic was backed up to Prasek's or maybe El Campo while we tried to establish a route. It was pretty tied up."

El Campo EMS was dispatched at 7:12 p.m. to the report of an overturned semitruck on U.S. 59 at the intersection of FM 441. The empty box trailer was reportedly parked under the overpass to escape the heavy rain and hail.

The 60-year-old Houston driver reportedly told EMS personnel, "A tornado or high wind sucked me from the overpass."

The vehicle was found on its driver's side.He was removed from his truck and transported to El Campo Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The LCRA gauge at El Campo Memorial Hospital recorded 1.15 inches during the storm period with most of that water slamming the area between 6:56 and 7:26 p.m.,

Around the same time, an LCRA gauge in the northwest corner of Wharton County reported 3.56 inches of rain with 1.84 inches of that hitting the ground between 6:11 and 6:41 p.m.

Another gauge 5.5 miles south of El Campo collected 2.06 inches of rain.

The gauge at the Colorado River at Wharton reported only .54 inches while wind gusts of up to 30 mph at the Wharton Airport.

"We had a little bit of hail - pea-sized," Wharton County Emergency Management Coordinator Andy Kirkland said Tuesday. "I heard an ambulance reported hail on its way out. But the worst of the wind and the storminess was south of El Campo between Louise, Danevang and Magnet. There are not a whole lot of folks down there to get effected.

"Luckily the worst of it didn't go over a populated area," he said.

Reports of limbs down were scattered throughout the county, but there were no reports of damage to homes.