Extensive damage reported due to overnight storm

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  • A tree on Pleasant Hill Road was uprooted during Thursday's storm
    A tree on Pleasant Hill Road was uprooted during Thursday's storm
  • Several reports of power, phone and cable lines knocked down were reported, including a line on Hwy. 208.
    Several reports of power, phone and cable lines knocked down were reported, including a line on Hwy. 208.
  • A trampoline on Pleasant Hill Road was destroyed after it flew into a tree due to the high winds this morning.
    A trampoline on Pleasant Hill Road was destroyed after it flew into a tree due to the high winds this morning.
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Fire, rain, high winds and flooding water struck Scurry County late Thursday and early today, leaving one resident seriously injured and causing extensive property damage across the area.
A storm system that approached the area from the east unleashed heavy amounts of rain — almost three inches of precipitation was reported at the SnTx Industrial Park and four inches of rain was reported in China Grove — and high winds that overturned trees, campers and, in one case, trapped a resident inside an overturned trailer home.
A resident in the 12,000 block of CR 465 in Hermleigh called 9-1-1 at 6:27 a.m. today and reported that his neighbor’s mobile home had flipped over, with the neighbor trapped inside. Rescue vehicles responding to the call were unable to reach the scene directly because of downed power lines and first responders eventually reached the scene on foot, according to information released by the Scurry County Sheriff’s Office.
The elderly resident of the upended mobile home was extricated from the structure and was airlifted via Native Air to a Lubbock hospital. His medical condition was not known at press time.
High water resulting from the rain stranded several motorists and, in one case, necessitated a water rescue by a sheriff’s deputy.
Deputy Maggie Salinas said she was responding to a stranded motorist call at another location when she received a call at 2:23 a.m. about a motorist on CR 465 whose vehicle had been swept into a ditch by rising water.
“(The motorist) was from Arkansas and she had gotten lost trying to find the highway,” Salinas said. “She had pulled over to the shoulder when the car got washed into the ditch and she reported that water was rising within the vehicle.”
After Salinas was able to reach the vehicle, the motorist rolled down the passenger side window and exited the vehicle, with Salinas carrying her on her back. Two passers-by later towed the vehicle out of the ditch.
No other injures were reported as a result of the storm, but it caused extensive property damage, especially in the eastern and southern portions of Scurry County.
Lightning was the suspected cause of a tank battery fire on CR 465 which was reported at 11:49 p.m. Thursday. Two tanks caught fire before Snyder Fire Department units were able to extinguish the blaze.
Aside from rising water stranding some motorists, few traffic accidents were reported, the most serious of which occurred shortly after midnight when an 18-wheeler flipped onto its side on Hwy. 208 in Dunn. The highway remained closed to traffic early this morning.
Elsewhere, high winds caused downed trees and power lines throughout the area, leaving many residents without electricity. 
Utility crews were busy throughout the night and this morning working to restore power to the affected areas.
Among the many reports received by Snyder police and sheriff’s deputies was an instance of fallen trees blocking Brick Plant Road. In another incident, police officers and deputies had to help people leave the Stripes east convenience store after power was lost to the building.
Other rainfall totals reported overnight in Scurry County included 0.47 of an inch at Western Texas College.