4/16/09 REPORT

Whew, what a day! I'm kind of tired right now, so I'll make it short.

Made my way down to Tulia right after the T-storm watch was issued. Stayed in the general area of Tulia and Kress for much of the day. The storms just kept backbuilding and training over the areas of Tulia and Kress. The end result...lots of flooding and some crazy hail covering the road. I saw pea to dime size hail around 8-10 inches deep near Kress. It looked like a snowstorm in much of the area. As I made my way north of Kress, I saw some major flooding right beside I-27 in a culvert and ditch area. As I made my way a little further up I-27, traffic north and southbound was at a standstill on I-27 about 2 miles south of Tulia. I didn't know if it was due to flooding or a major accident. I shut off the vehicle because I didn't move an inch for about 30 minutes. As traffic started moving, it became evident that it was because of major flooding. Cars were going through at least 2.5 to 3 feet of water going southbound on the interstate. I've never seen an interstate flooded that bad. As a matter of fact, I've never seen hail piled up like it was today. Not bad for the second chase of the year. Everything went fine and the chase vehicle did great! Now, I'm off to get some grub and go to bed! Oh, here is the video of mine that the station used: STORM VIDEO