AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Just little more than 24 hours after spring began, the Austin area got its first taste of spring thunderstorms Monday afternoon - along with what will likely be a historic tornado outbreak across the metro.
Multiple confirmed tornadoes were reported across Central Texas as the storms pushed through, as severe storms moved across the Interstate 35 corridor ahead of an approaching cold front.
Williamson County saw the brunt of the tornado damage, including the city of Round Rock. Additional funnel cloud reports came in from Jarrell, Granger, and Hutto, in addition to other reports in parts of Caldwell, Bastrop, and Hays Counties.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held a press conference Monday night shortly after the storms cleared the area.
"There are a number of homes and a number of structures that have been damaged, and there are some that have been destroyed,” Gravell said. "It’s very difficult for us to quantify that until we can see it in the daylight."
"The state is standing with the people of Williamson County shoulder to shoulder," Abbott said. "We know that you have faced a devastating storm, with multiple tornadoes ripping through Williamson County alone. We know there are many people whose lives have been completely disrupted."
Abbott said Williamson County is already covered under an emergency declaration for wildfires that he signed last week, and Gravell said he plans to sign an emergency declaration as soon as it is ready.
Survey teams from the National Weather Service will work to identify and confirm, over the next few days, whether tornadoes or straight-line winds were responsible for the damage seen across the area.
The first of 11 different tornado warnings issued across the Austin area came just after 5:15 p.m. Monday afternoon as a line of storms began to push into the western edges of Travis and Hays Counties from the Hill Country.
In addition to the tornado threat, strong winds up to 60mph and large hail were also reported as the storms moved through the Austin metro area.
One of the early damage spots could be seen in the Round Rock area at Interstate 35 and Ste Highway 45, where several businesses were damaged. A tornado was seen moving through the area around 6 p.m. according to Round Rock Police.
City officials said most of the damage was concentrated in areas along Highway 79, Gattis School Road, and Greenlawn Boulevard. Multiple homes and businesses were seen with structural damage.
Round Rock officials said two temporary shelters were being set up; one at the Dell Diamond Heritage Center at 3400 East Palm Valley Boulevard, and Redbud Elementary School at 1500 Ty Cobb Place.