HOUSTON — There's damage all over the Greater Houston area after a dangerous thunderstorm brought powerful wind and heavy rain. At least four people were killed, Mayor John Whitmire said, and he urged everyone to stay off the roads and stay safe.
In scenes reminiscent of Hurricane Alicia back in 1983, straight line winds up to 100 mph blew out hundreds of windows of downtown skyscrapers leaving workers scrambling for cover and glass all over the streets and sidewalks. The damaged buildings include the Wells Fargo Plaza, Total Energies, Enterprise Plaza, Kinder Morgan and Chevron.
Workers on higher floors say they felt the towers sway amid the whipping wind.
“I could feel the floor moving," Ann Tran told us. "I was sitting in an office and a door was just sliding in and out by itself."
Another downtown worker shared video with KHOU 11 News reporter Jason Miles that showed a window blowing out in a tunnel level restaurant of the Wells Fargo Plaza where people huddled during the storm.
"Oh my God! There go the windows," Dave Lewis said. “We had a guy come in off the street, said something landed on his car and cut him, about an eight-inch gash."
Winds were clocked at 90 to 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service. They said exposed north and west side buildings had windows blown out.
"It looks like a tornado to me," Lewis told us.
“It sounded like a train horn – like 10 train horns – like everything we heard from people who lived through tornadoes," Wes Waitkus said.
A wall collapsed on one side of the Conejo Malo bar on Travis Street near Buffalo Bayou. We're told it wasn't open when it happened.
“I never thought I’d see something like this in downtown Houston – it’s spectacular, it really is," Kyle Flick said.
A lot of streets were blocked by debris and downed trees. Traffic signals are also out.
KHOU 11 News reporter Anayeli Ruiz shot this video of trees down and damage along Congress Street.
And Astros fans inside Minute Maid Park shared videos of rain pouring inside the ballpark during the game. They said the storm also blew out windows at Minute Maid.
here were tornado warnings for Harris County but the only confirmed tornado as of Friday afternoon was in Cypress.