Canyon Lake woman wakes on her birthday to uprooted trees after tornado

Dukes emerged from the home on FM 2722 the next morning — a day that just so happened to be her birthday — to check the damage. When she checked the back of the property everything seemed to be ok, but the front of the home was a different story. Dukes noticed several uprooted oak trees and limbs scattered about at the front of the house.

“It was quite shocking and sad [to see], and it’s my birthday,” she said. “[I’m] thankful no one was hurt or structures damaged.”

In addition to the damage on the property, the home she and her husband share on Canyon Lake had water damage as a result of the storm. 

The National Weather Service confirmed on Friday, April 21, that a tornado did hit the Startzville-Canyon Lake area around 10:45 p.m. on Thursday. The tornado reached peak winds of 85 miles per hour and spanned a path of 3 miles traveling from Startzville toward FM 2722, which is where Dukes was.

The damage was ultimately minimal as the NWS noted there were only a few downed trees and minimal structure damage. The NWS reported there were also some wind damage around Canyon Lake.