March 21
A severe line of early spring thunderstorms that carved a path of destruction across central Texas spawned at least five tornadoes, including one that wreaked havoc in Hutto, Granger and Taylor. Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell reported that 1,119 structures were damaged in Williamson County from the tornadoes. In the rural area, there were 343 structures damaged.
The tornado that passed through Hutto and Taylor was first spotted in Round Rock near Interstate 35 and Texas 45, then moved to U.S. 79 and began moving east. A northwest Taylor neighborhood near Chandler Road was clipped as the storm headed northeast before dissipating between Granger and Granger Lake.
The tornado touched down in northwest Taylor causing downed powerlines on County Road 368, roof damage to buildings on Cotton Row Lane and debris blocking roadways near Chandler Road and County Road 101.
The wreckage included heavy damage to telephone poles, homes, railroad tracks and more in Granger. According to eyewitnesses, homes on County Road 346 sustained heavy damages, and another structure was leveled near that area.
The worst of the rapidly moving storm, which struck the area about 6 p.m. and was preceded by lashing rains, lasted about two hours before the system moved out.
Oncor’s storm outage map showed up to a thousand customers without power the same day, not counting 5,000 closer to Round Rock. Hundreds were still without power for 24 hours due to equipment failures with an unknown restoration time.
Officials address community
County Judge Bill Gravell and Gov. Greg Abbott held a joint press conference to address how the county and state would handle the aftermath of the tornadoes. Gravell confirmed widespread damage in the county and said electricity had been switched off to eastern parts of the county due to downed power lines. In addition to tornado effects, he reported heavy damage from hail.
Gravell said the National Weather Service conducted an assessment. At least two tornados touched down Williamson County — one that moved from Round Rock to Granger
