TYLER, Texas — The National Weather Service out of Shreveport made the drive to Tyler on Thursday afternoon to survey damage from Tuesday night's storm. During their search, they found many trees downed due to winds that they believe reached 100 miles per hour.
However, they reached the conclusion that it was not a tornado that hit Tyler's Azalea District. Instead, it was straight-line winds that ripped through the area at damaging speeds, taking down historically old trees in its path.
"But in this case, a tornado did not touch down. The rotation came through and then the line of storms came through and led to the damaging winds," said the National Weather Service's Charlie Woodrum. "And so that is what occurred in this case."
Local resident Joseph Seibert's house was right in the line of the storm. He heard the emergency notice over the radio and quickly hid in the bathtub. He said he wasn't sure to expect when he went outside, and was shocked when he saw the aftermath.
"It was far worse than what I thought. It took me through the better part of yesterday cleaning up and pulling all these dead limbs out of my yard," said Seibert.
Work crews were all over the Azalea District on Thursday to help clean up the damage and storm debris as quick as possible. Both residents and the crews came together as a community to help their fellow neighbors recover from the storm.
Seibert says that the friendliness among other residents and the willingness to help is what truly makes Tyler special.
"I didn’t expect to find that down here in Tyler. And yet it proves true every day. People are really friendly here and try to help each other out," said Seibert.