Buc-ee's shelters Texas residents, travelers during Temple tornado

Texans’ favorite pit stop turned into a make shift shelter when a brutal storm touched down on Wednesday night, May 22. Residents in Temple suffered severe damage from a storm that brought hail, strong winds, and a tornado that devastated the area and knocked power out of numerous buildings. Yet while the storm surged, dozens took shelter inside the town’s local Buc-ee’s.

The Temple Buc-ee’s, which welcomes travelers between Waco and Austin, drew attention last year for a billboard seemingly misspelling howdy as “Hodwy” in a promotional gimmick. Yet Wednesday’s storm was no laughing matter. Photos from X user Braxton Johnson-Ray showed dozens of residents take shelter inside the bathrooms at Buc-ee’s as tornado sirens sounded out through the Central Texas town.

“The power briefly went out several times and a hush fell over everyone, punctuated only by hearing the employees still calling out ‘hot brisket on the board!'” Johnson-Ray said to MySA. “Everyone was surprisingly orderly and though a lot of us were very stressed, most people were outwardly calm. The employees’ calm definitely helped with the crowd’s calm. We sheltered there for around 20 minutes, waiting for each new alert to come through on our phones before being given the all clear. It was a scary experience.”

While residents took shelter inside, wind, rain, and hail pounded the dozens of cars and gas pumps outside the store. TikTok videos from amateur storm chaser Bo Adams showcased the damage sustained at Buc-ee’s. In the videos Adams can be seen holding marble-sized hail that’s storming down on the area.

This was also not the first time Buc-ee’s has acted as a Texas tornado shelter. A TikTok video from April 26 showed shoppers taking shelter in the bathroom of the newly opened Buc-ee’s in Hillsboro. It goes to show the award winning bathrooms are worthy of praise.

“Whenever you receive a notification to shelter immediately, take it seriously,” Johnson-Ray said. “Tornados can form within minutes, are incredibly unpredictable, and often cannot be seen in advance due to rain shadow. It’s much better to be inconvenienced for an hour than to end up dead.”

The store was not damaged by the tornado, Buc-ee’s general counsel Jeff Nadalo confirmed to MySA, but it has been busy providing supplies to the Temple community as it recovers from the destructive storm.