Heavy rain, hail, and lightning were reported across Brown County on Tuesday evening as a thunderstorm rolled through the area giving much needed rain to most, but emergency responders were kept busy on reports of lightning strikes, short power outages, and one structure fire in Brownwood.
Lightning strikes were to blame for a couple of small grass fires near Brookesmith Tuesday evening as the thunderstorm began to roll in after 6:30pm. Sheriff’s deputies and the Brookesmith Volunteer Fire Department reported heavy smoke in the area of County Road 586 and FM 1176 and moved to find the source as the storm approached. As the crews were responding, heavy rain and hail were reported in the area causing visibility issues. Firefighters determined that the heavy rain put out the fire as the storm continued to move across the region.
The Brownwood Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 400 block of 5th Street after 7pm. Crews found that a detached frame garage behind a house in the neighborhood was engulfed in flames as heavy rain poured. No word as of Tuesday night if lightning was to blame for the fire.
Short power failures in several parts of Brownwood also caused issues for police and firefighters during the storm. Some traffic signals were temporarily knocked out. A short power failure at the Brownwood Law Enforcement Center also caused some radio and computer issues for officials as their systems came back online to deal with the large amount of calls coming into dispatch. Brownwood firefighters were also later called to the Law Enforcement Center near the end of the storm to check out another lightning strike in the area as a precaution.
Large hail was reported in western Brown County during the storm causing damage to roofs and uncovered vehicles in the area.
On the positive side, few were complaining about the rain that fell in most in the county. Reports indicate that much of the city of Brownwood received around 2 inches of rainfall with the heaviest rain, up to 5 inches, in western and southern Brown County. Less than an inch is being reported in the northeast parts of the county.
Chances of rain remain in the forecast for Tuesday night into Wednesday.
Top photo shows firefigters at the fire on 5th Street during the storm.
The fire on 5th Street.
Heavy smoke from the fire on 5th Street during the rain.
Water standing at the intersection of 4th Street and Magnolia.
