Watauga businesses recover after powerful downburst damages the area
Monty Osman's intense perspective on Watagua's midweek storm intensified after he viewed surveillance video.
"I mean, seeing it now and playing back the footage," Osman said. "Seems pretty crazy, honestly."
One of the locations for his business, Monty's Automotives, is in the 6700 block of Rufe Snow Drive. On Wednesday, the 35-year-old said it was raining as he prepared to meet a customer.
The surveillance video he shared with CBS News Texas shows he viewed footage ranging from regular and rainy to blinding and windy, with metal flying through the air. Osman was in the parking lot after 5:15 pm.
His surveillance video has no audio. However, the cell phone video he recorded in his pickup truck documents the sound of rain, hail, and wind.
"It was super windy, super gusty. I mean, you couldn't see nothing," he said. "My truck started rocking and shaking."
The business owner said he felt led to move his truck from one part of the parking lot to another. He can be seen doing so in the surveillance video. The neighboring business, DEKRA, an emissions and safety inspection company, experienced structural damage from the storm.
Employee Jason Hurbough said he was recording the rain on his cell phone when the wall began to collapse.
"It was maybe five, 10 feet away from me. The whole wall just dropped right next to me, nothing between me and the wall. And then I took off towards the pit," Hurbough said.
The 31-year-old said he went into a car pit to stay safe from the severe wind downburst. He recorded everything on his phone until it was time to save his life. Friday, he was back at the scene walking around.
"I could have easily been at that wall when it collapsed. I could have died in that moment, but God was looking out for me," he said.
Officials report one person was injured during the storm but not from the aforementioned businesses. There was no condition update or cost estimate on what the powerful winds did to the North Texas municipality.
Osman said the storm-related power loss cut into his business' bottom line. He was fortunate enough to move to a second location on Camp Bowie Rd to operate until he regained power late Thursday night.
"We lost a lot of revenue for the last couple of days, not working. And right now we're still not fully operational, but we're getting there slowly," he said.
