Texas Destroyed Today! Mass Hail Storm Damaging Homes, Cars in Dublin, San Antonio

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:09]Nature's fury was on full display yesterday in Aith County. What began as a humid typical spring afternoon in central Texas quickly transformed into a scene of atmospheric chaos. The town of Dublin, known for its historic soda bottling and quiet charm, found itself at the epicenter of a violent supercell thunderstorm. Tonight, we take an in-depth look at the hours leading up to the storm. The terrifying moments the ice began to fall and the long road to recovery that lies ahead for the residents of Dublin. The day started like any other Sunday in May. Families were heading home from church and the local businesses along Patrick Street were enjoying a steady hum of activity.

[00:00:52]But meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Fort Worth were already sounding the alarm. An unstable air mass fueled by Gulf moisture and a passing cold front had created a powder keg atmosphere over North Central Texas.

[00:01:08]To understand what happened in Dublin, you have to look at the vertical structure of the storm, says senior meteorologist.

[00:01:15]The radar data showed a classic hook echo signature, a telltale sign of a rotating supercell. The updrafts within this storm were clocked at over 100 mph.

[00:01:27]These powerful winds acted as an elevator, carrying raindrops high into the freezing layers of the atmosphere.

[00:01:34]There they coated small particles of dust with ice, falling and rising repeatedly, adding layer upon layer until the weight of the hail finally overcame the strength of the wind. What fell next was not just rain, but gorilla hail. Stones ranging from the size of golf balls to nearly 4 in in diameter, resembling jagged, jagged chunks of concrete falling from the sky. I'm standing here on the outskirts of Dublin where the scars of yesterday's storm are visible everywhere you look. Look at this windshield behind me. It hasn't just been cracked. It has been completely obliterated.

[00:02:12]Residents described the sound as a freight train made of glass. For 20 minutes, the town was under siege. I was in the kitchen when the sky turned an eerie shade of green. Then came the sound. It wasn't like rain hitting the roof. It sounded like someone was throwing bricks at my house. We ran to the interior hallway, huddled under blankets, and just prayed. We could hear the windows in the bedroom shattering one by one. The damage is staggering.

[00:02:41]Local insurance adjusters estimate that hundreds of homes have sustained roof damage. The Dublin Independent School District reported several broken skylights and minor flooding in classrooms. The most visible damage is to the vehicles.

[00:02:55]Dealerships along the highway saw their entire inventory peppered with deep dents, rendering brand new trucks unsellable. Stormchasers from across the country converged on Aith County. Their footage provides a terrifying POV of the storm's intensity. In one clip, a stormchasers reinforced vehicle is seen vibrating as massive hailstones bounce off the reinforced polycarbonate windows. This is some of the largest hail we've seen this season. One chaser is heard shouting over the deafening roar of the ice. Beyond the residential damage, Dublin's agricultural sector has taken a massive hit. The surrounding ranch lands and dairy farms were not spared. Young crops were flattened in minutes and livestock sought shelter wherever they could find it.

[00:03:42]Farmers in this region are used to Texas weather, but this is a setback that will be felt for the rest of the harvest season, says a representative from the local farmers bureau. As the clouds parted and the sun set on a battered Dublin, the spirit of the Irish capital of Texas began to shine.

[00:04:02]Neighbors emerged from their homes with chainsaws and tarps.

[00:04:06]By nightfall, the sound of hammering echoed through the streets as temporary repairs were made to keep the evening's light rain out of living rooms.

[00:04:15]Volunteer organizations have already set up stations to provide water and assistance to those whose homes were rendered uninhabitable.

[00:04:22]While the immediate threat has passed, the National Weather Service warns that we are still in the heart of severe weather season. Another system is expected to move through the area late Wednesday night. Governor has declared a state of emergency for Ath County to expedite aid to those affected by the hail storm. Local officials are urging residents to document all damage for insurance purposes and to be wary of stormchaser repair scams. Unlicensed contractors who often flood an area after a major weather event. Dublin, Texas is a town built on hard work and community. While the ice may have broken their windows and dented their cars, it has not shaken their resolve. As the cleanup continues, the people here are reminded once again of the unpredictable power of the Texas sky. Meanwhile, residents of Atcosa County are waking up to a landscape transformed by the sheer violence of nature after a powerful line of severe thunderstorms tore through South Texas late Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday morning. The storm, part of a volatile weather system that swept across the San Antonio metropolitan area, brought hurricane force wind gusts, torrential downpours, and a barrage of lightning that lit up the night sky for hours. The National Weather Service, NWS, in Austin/ San Antonio, had been monitoring a dry line moving east from the Edwards Plateau since Sunday afternoon. By 900 p.m., the atmosphere over Atcosa County reached a breaking point. What began as scattered cells quickly coalesed into a menacing quasi linear convective system, QLCS.

[00:06:08]Meteorologists issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Pleasanton, Jordan, and Charlotte as radar indicated a bow echo signature, a telltale sign of intense straight line winds.

[00:06:21]The velocity data was showing pockets of 70 to 75 mph winds just a few hundred feet above the ground, said one NWS lead forecaster. When those winds mix down to the surface, they act like a plow, pushing everything in their path. While the entire county felt the storm's wrath, the community of Charlotte and its surrounding rural corridors appeared to bear the brunt of the structural damage. Early reports from Atcosa County Sheriff's deputies described a scene of tangled steel and splintered wood.

[00:06:54]In the outskirts of Charlotte, several agricultural outbuildings and barns were completely leveled. It sounded like a freight train was sitting right on top of my house, said Miguel Torres, a local rancher. I looked out the window when the lightning flashed, and I saw my equipment shed simply lift off the ground and disintegrate.

[00:07:13]Downed power lines and uprooted mosquite trees turned many county roads into obstacle courses, forcing emergency crews to use chainsaws to reach isolated residents. In Pleasanton, the county's largest city, large oak branches littered residential streets, some crushing parked vehicles and puncturing roofs. As the storm's core moved through, the electrical grid buckled.

[00:07:38]According to data from CPS Energy and local cooperatives, over 17,000 customers in the greater San Antonio and Atcosa region were plunged into darkness simultaneously.

[00:07:50]The outages weren't just a result of fallen trees. The intense cloud to ground lightning strikes, estimated at over 200 strikes per minute during the storm's peak, fried several transformers.

[00:08:03]Utility crews were dispatched immediately, but were frequently forced to pull back to safety as secondary surges of lightning made working on elevated lines life-threatening.

[00:08:13]While the wind caused the most immediate distress, the rainfall was staggering.

[00:08:18]Automated rain gauges near the Atcosa River recorded between 3 to 5 in of rain in less than 3 hours. This led to rapid rises in low water crossings, prompting the Atcosa County Emergency Management Office to issue a turnaround, don't drown advisory.

[00:08:37]However, there is a glimmer of hope for the region's long-term water security.

[00:08:42]The heavy runoff is currently surging downstream toward the Freo and Atcosa River basins. Hydraologists expect these flows to provide a much needed boost to the water levels at the Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi, which have been struggling with drought conditions over the past year. Addosa County judge and local mayors are expected to conduct a full damage assessment by Monday afternoon.

[00:09:05]Currently, there have been no confirmed fatalities, a fact officials attribute to the early warnings and residents taking shelter in interior rooms.

[00:09:15]Our priority right now is clearing the main arteries for emergency vehicles and restoring power to our critical facilities. A spokesperson for the county emergency operations center, EOC, stated, "We are asking residents to remain patient. If you see a downed wire, assume it is live and stay away.

[00:09:56]Heat. HEAT.

[00:10:03]HEAT. HEAT.

[00:10:31]HEAT.

[00:10:36]HEAT.