‘Most scared I’ve ever been.’ Downburst of wind levels RV park northwest of Fort Worth
RVs were turned over and a tiny home was demolished right in front of Joseph Clark’s eyes Saturday evening when a downburst struck Clean Living RV Park near Briar in Parker County.
Clark, a newer resident of the park, was in his neighbor’s shed with three women, looking for power cables to hook up a new window air conditioner to his neighbor’s trailer when he said the sky turned black. He watched as the tiny house flew at the shed and an RV in front of it lifted 20 feet off the ground before landing on its side.
“The most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life was in that there shed,” Clark said. “Watching an entire house fly right at you, watching my neighbor’s trailer go 20 feet up off the ground and land back down right in front of you, that’s like seeing the end.”
The storm left the park without electricity, making air conditioning and refrigerators useless. For many residents cooking impossible.
Clark, along with the park owner and several residents, thought it was a tornado. Matt Bishop, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said it was a downburst wind, where colder air in the atmosphere plummets to the ground with the potential to cause damage.
“In my mind it doesn’t really matter if it was a tornado or not if you’re the person dealing with the damages to your property, but just to be factual it should be known that it wasn’t a tornado,” Bishop said.
Nobody was hurt in the RV park according to park owner Lance Day. The weather service in Fort Worth had not received any reports of injuries or casualties by Sunday and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for information Sunday. Parts of the Briar community are in Tarrant and Wise counties.
The damage was focused northwest of Fort Worth, along Farm to Market Road 730 near Briar Road, according to the report. RVs flipped over, trees were snapped, homes sustained roof damage, the tiny home was blown to splinters, and debris littered roads and surrounded a Dollar General store.
Day said the park was doing everything it could to help residents and was expecting the Red Cross to arrive Sunday.
Eight trailers and the home were totaled by the storm. Day said only one of the trailer owners had insurance.
Rain chances will be on the increase this week, according to the weather service.
There is a 30% of showers and storms Monday afternoon and evening with a high about 100. The forecast calls for a 50% chance of rain Monday night, followed by 70% Tuesday and Wednesday as high temperatures drop into the low 90s. Rain chances continues at 40% Thursday and Friday.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 5:02 PM with the headline "‘Most scared I’ve ever been.’ Downburst of wind levels RV park northwest of Fort Worth."