Disaster declaration issued for Hopkins following storm

• Heavy equipment was brought following the inclement weather Wednesday morning to remove this mangled store sign at Auto Zone. Some small structures and roofs were blown over, off and relocated, powerlines and transformers knocked down or blown, and numerous trees fell on houses, vehicles, yards and over roadways as a result of the straightline winds and microburst storm which swept through Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County early June 5. Staff photo by Tamy Vinson

Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom issued a disaster declaration for Hopkins County, Texas, Thursday morning, following the damaging severe weather that rolled through both the city and outlying areas of the county overnight Tuesday.

Multiple downed trees were spotted all over Sulphur Springs, as well as in surrounding rural areas.

The declaration, sent as a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott, cites “strong straight-line winds, micro-downburst, reoccurring precipitation and flooding” as the cause of a “significant threat to life, health and property.”

It describes the potential impact of the threat as a “natural disaster, to include but not limited to damage suffered to homes, property, buildings, roads, bridges culverts, parks and playgrounds; down powerlines, extended power outages, food spoilage, fallen trees [and] hazardous debris. This incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capability of the county to control” and Newsom “[is] requesting that [Abbott] declare a state of emergency for Hopkins, Texas, and… issue a Declaration of Disaster so to apply for Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) funding.”

The declaration will be affirmed when the commissioners meet Monday, June 10 for their next regular session. County officials can then begin working on getting state and federal funding for repairs and cleanup efforts.

Hopkins County Commissioners opened all four precinct barns from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday to allow county residents to remove trees, limbs and brush onland dispose of the debris at the locations.

The City of Sulphur Springs also opened the spring clean up site for city residents to dispose of storm tree debris. The site will be open Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those disposing of debris should plan to unload their own trucks and trailers and provide a city water bill to show proof of residence. City officials emphasize the site will only accept trees and limbs.

Hopkins County Fire Chief Andy Endsley said the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth said there were no tornadoes, only straight line winds and a microburst. The NWS did not detect any rotation during the storms.

“It was a pretty widespread event,” Endsley said. “We were monitoring the weather all night from the Emergency Operations Center, and we had no warning ourselves. There was no way to get warnings out any earlier. We were very blessed. There were no serious injuries reported, and no entrapments. Everything worked as it should, and the city and county crews worked very well together. Everyone — crews and volunteers — did a fantastic job.”

Reports included damages to property from downed trees, high water and wind.