HOUSTON, Texas — Former Toledo natives who now call Texas home share their experience from within Hurricane Beryl's deadly storm.
Christopher Jewell gave WTOL an exclusive look of the damage left behind, sharing images from around his home where he works as a NASA Contractor in Houston, Texas.
While the storm hit, he bunkered indoors with his two sons. He says they watched several trees come down.
Due to reception connection issues from Hurricane Beryl's damage, conversations with Jewell were cut short and a full interview was not able to be given.
WTOL spoke with another Toledoan, Tyrone Jacob, Jr., who you may remember for his work at NASA. He is a Traveling Motivational Speaker and Author who has a book that's all about overcoming storms.
Jacob told WTOL he was traveling from Toledo to Houston when the storm hit. He recalls cars pulling to the side of the road and bracing for impact as they rushed to get to safety.
Shortly before the storm hit, Jacob said notifications flooded their phones with warnings. They were advised to:
- Stay indoors
- Bring pets inside
- Protect valuables to mitigate risk and have minimal damage
"People are without power, people are having to buy generators and stuff like that you know, said Jacob. "They are using candles because a lot of people have lost power and electricity. Yea, it has just been crazy."
Jacob explained that he received the advisories and stayed inside. He believes many people will need a lot of help to recover.
"I think the pandemic taught me to be prepared and stay stocked up because of stuff like this but I know other people that have lost power, or they have housing repairs to be done, roofing messed up, a lot of businesses - the signage has been knocked off," said Jacob.
The Toledoans WTOL spoke to say they were lucky, and their losses can be recovered.
WTOL will continue to keep you updated on the storm's damage seen in Texas.
WATCH more on WTOL: