FORT WORTH, Texas — Dozens of vehicles for sale at a Fort Worth car dealership will require extensive repairs after a storm ripped through the neighborhood off Camp Bowie West Boulevard on Wednesday night.
Special Touch II Auto Sales owner Edward Andrews estimates 30 to 35 cars need new windows after wind blew a nearby roof into his lot. Gravel, siding, and gutters smashed into the cars. Andrews estimates each car could cost up to $12,000 to repair.
"When you get here and you see something like this, you're just flabbergasted," Andrews said. "You don't really know what to say. You're just like, 'Wow.'"
Some of the cars had already been sold. One man was slated to collect a new Kia on Thursday.
"I called to say, 'I'm coming to get it,' and this is what I see," the customer told WFAA, looking at his windowless car. "I just had a heart attack. I can't think about this too much."
Insurance should cover the vehicle repairs, Andrews said cautiously. The wind also blew debris through the dealership's office windows.
The same storm tore through another roof a block away from the car lot. Regoleo Espinoza was working inside the In-Depth Tattoo Studio when he says the wind knocked him down.
"The windows just turned gray," Espinoza said. "You could just feel the impact of it on the roof. Water started pouring in."
Espinoza and other workers raced to move electronics out of their flooding shop into a neighboring unit. No one was hurt.
"What was going through my head was like, 'Man, is this it?' Like, is this going to pick me up? Am I not going to get to tell my family goodbye?'" Espinoza recalled.
People who live in the neighborhood nearby spent their Thursday cleaning up massive limbs and downed trees. Roofers and tree trimmers lined the residential streets.
"It's horrible," Andrews said. "It's like a war zone."
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