300 Montgomery County structures were damaged in an EF-3 tornado. Now, leaders are trying to secure federal funding

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — A family who survived one of Saturday’s tornadoes is speaking out after the twister ripped the roof off their home.

Matthew Weaver and his parents’ home was among the 300 structures damaged during the storm in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said it’s impossible to miss the trail of damage the EF-3 tornado’s nearly 150 mph winds left behind.

Now, work is underway to get some federal aid to help rebuild.

Weaver said he and his mother were home when he saw his town, Porter Heights, in the weather alert. His father was out of town on a preplanned trip.

“The weather alert went off and so I turned on the weather and I said, ‘Oh snap’,” Weaver said.

Weaver ran to get himself and his mother to safety as a few drops of rain quickly changed into life-threatening weather.

“I’m looking up and all of a sudden the roof just flies off. It was kind of terrifying and a little traumatized still,” Weaver said.

He and his mother were separated in their home by the force of the wind as a door slammed her to the ground.

“I said, ‘Mom let’s go’ and she missed it she didn’t get in the room and that five seconds was so terrifying. Am I dead? Is she dead,” Weaver said.

Ultimately, the door acted as a shield and they both survived with minor injuries. Matthew’s five cats were all found alive as well.

The family now faces a mountain of cleanup, and they’re not the only ones.

“There were 302 homes in that area that were damaged, homes. When it hit it crushed that area in Porter Heights,” Keough said.

He said they are now working on a damage assessment.

“We need to do that in order to get the funding we need from the federal government and state government,” Keough said. 

He explained to get funding, county residents need to self-report their damages. Should they meet their threshold, they’ll submit it to the state leaders who can then declare a disaster

If the state makes its threshold, which is based on the total cost of damage in affected areas, it will go to the state for possible federal funding approval.

The funding, if approved, can help those like Weaver and his parents who all lived together when the storm hit and are now looking at a shell of what once was their home.

“My neighbors, they walked over, looked through and said ‘Oh my God you’re alive. Sorry, it’s pretty traumatic,” Weaver said.

Meanwhile, crews are hard at work restoring power. Power outages are down from about 8,000 to only 500 Monday night.