HEMPHILL, TX (KTRE) -
Early Friday morning the residents
near Toledo Bend Lake woke up to the strongest winds they'd ever seen.
"It wasn't just a short wind, it
lasted a long time," said Glenn McDaniel, Co-Owner, Holly Park Marina.
Holly Park Marina, a 43-year-old
family business was hit during the storm and suffered major damage.
"Pretty good high winds, I'd say
about 60 miles per hour or better and that lasted until about 10'oclock,"
said Cecil Harper, Emergency Coordinator.
70-year-old Cecil Harper says his boat was
destroyed, the storm knocked over two pine trees and they landed right on top
of his boat.
"We've been in a few storms I
don't think anything has been this bad since the hurricane," said Harper.
The storm lasted three hours and
brought the marina to the ground and damaged two boats in the process.
"We couldn't get them out, it was
too dangerous because they were picking the boats up higher than the walkways
almost chest high," said McDaniel.
Glenn McDaniel says his sons worked to
bring 15 boats to shore before they could be damaged by the storm.
He says the winds had a powerful
effect on the water which sent everything out of control.
"The waves were probably about
two feet over that and it just kept working that marina like a whip," said
McDaniel.
Residents are grateful that it was
just the boats that were harmed.
"Thank goodness nobody was hurt
and all I can say is we will recover," said Harper.
The McDaniel family plans on
restructuring the marina because there's no telling when those winds will come
back.
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