Severe Storms Pound Borderland; 2 Tornadoes Touchdown, No Injuries Reported

EL PASO, Tx. – A sunnyday in Mayturned harsh Wednesday as severe weather pounded the Borderlandfrom Anthony in the Upper Valley to far-east El Paso County.

The sudden spring stormcaused flooding up to an inch on I-10 on the city’s west side, pea- to quarter-sized hailthroughout central El Paso and two confirmed tornadoes.

The hail storm that swept through the city dumped 1/4 to halfof an inch on various parts of the city.Viewers tell ABC-7 that the hail was so thick on the ground that it resembled snow drifts.

“It was hail like I’ve never seen before. I’ve never seen something this bad,” stated one resident.

Another west El Paso resident tells ABC-7 she was comletely surprised by the hail. “We just expected hard rain and we got hit bylittle golf-sized hail,” she stated.

According to the National Weather Service, two tornadoes were spotted and both touched down.

One tornado was spotted near White Sands and stayed on the ground for nearly 40 minutes while the second touched down near Fort Bliss and was on the ground for 17 minutes.

ABC-7’s “Doppler” Dave Speelman states that the possibility of tornadoes hitting the borderland once again is very scarce. However, the possibility still remains as an area of low pressure continues to move into the region.

According to “Doppler,” today’s tornadoes were the result of “the right ingredients mixing up at the right time.”

“El Paso and west Texasare right on the fringe of a severe weather threat for the entire month of May,” he went on to state.

Flooding was also a problem near UTEP, as Glory Road was again flooded by runoff from the surrounding area. Several cars were left submerged up to their windows as drivers were rescued from their vehicles.

Alex Olivas, a UTEP student, believes Glory Road is in real bad shape.”The street is really bad, so this is going to happen every time it rains and that’s not the first time I see cars get stuck there,” he stated.

To view viewer-submitted pictures, click on the link provided.