Windy Weather Whips Through Borderland

Wicked winds whipped through the Borderland on Monday afternoon. Dirt and dust blanketed most of El Paso and Las Cruces.

By Monday night, the winds had died down. But now some residents are left picking up the pieces the wind left behind.

“This is typical west Texas winds, but I was sitting in the room in the back and I could see little twisters, little dust devils,” said northeast resident Herman Proudfoot.

A thick cloud of dust, dirt and sand suffocated most of the city, making the mountains hazy and the distance barely visible.

At UTEP, students hurried to class, many covering their eyes. One girl was spotting trying to hold down her skirt.

Back in the northeast, “It seems as though it was simply a heavy gust that just kept going,” Proudfoot said.

He explained he heard part of his neighbor’s roof rip apart.

Not much is left of what covered the front porch of the home at Magnetic Street and Dolomite Drive.

“We ran over there, asked them if they were OK,” said Ruth Mendoza, who lives nearby.

She said the family who lives there has two children. Fortunately no one was hurt.

The powerful gusts did enough structural damage, transporting the roof to the back yard.

Pieces landed in the trees and broke branches along the way. Some parts even landed in the neighbor’s yard behind the house.

“It was creepy. It was scary,” said Mendoza.

She said the family was going to spend the night at a hotel.