Storms from Sunday night started southeast of Hale County and moved across the South Plains to northern Crosby County leaving behind damage in Petersburg, Cone and Ralls. 

In Petersburg, the roof of an Allsup was completely torn off and landed in a nearby neighbor’s home. The National Weather Service reported that Petersburg faced 80 mph winds. Employees from other Allsup locations came to Petersburg in the morning to help clear the debris. 

Along the highway, multiple utility lines were down. Crews have been working since last night to repair the downed lines. 

“Just for a thunderstorm, this is a pretty severe,” said a lineman from Excel Energy, Jacob Flick. “We don’t see a roof fly out most the time. This is a pretty severe case.”

Neighbors in Petersburg said this Allsup served as the community’s mini grocery store and now they will have to travel more than 20 miles to get to the nearest grocery store. 

And this is just the beginning of damage for many buildings and homes on the South Plains. In Cone, a farmer is picking up the pieces of his father-in-law’s work shed, where he stored some of his favorite memories. 

Dwight Roye said the shed in Cone stored tractors from the 1920’s, ones that his father-in-law worked to restore over the years. They were supposed to be passed down to his two grandsons. He said that’s what upset him the most. 

“Especially those two tractors, that he restored,” said Roye. “I’m glad he didn’t see it be destroyed. It would have broke his heart.”

But luckily, no one was hurt and Roye said it’s all things that can be replaced.

“It’s not our home. I feel fortunate from that respect,” said Roye. 

But Roye’s neighbors weren’t so lucky. They had more than half of their roof ripped off during the storms last night. Now they will have to find a new place to live before they can get it fixed. The Monk family has lived in their home in Cone for more than 20 years and although they’ve had to replace the roof before, they’ve never seen damage like this. 

“Feels like a big loss after being here since 1996. It’s a loss, but we’re okay. We’ll weather the storm,” said Johnny Monk. 

Monk said he is grateful for the community in Cone who came to help him and his family clear the debris from his home. 

“It’s what a small community does, it’s what happens,” said Monk. “You take care of your people. We’re blessed. We’re okay.”