Tornado spins up behind drivers on way out of Jones County

JONES COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) - Motorists along Highway 277 made their way south Thursday evening with dark clouds, hail and a tornado close behind. Around 7:30 p.m., a funnel touched down just west of Hawley. This is less than an hour after a confirmed touchdown west of Anson. Motorists packed along the highway and access roads headed for Abilene, hoping to stay ahead of the storm. Hawley Truck Driver Wilson Mesquita said he was ready to clock out for the night when he saw the clouds beginning to form.

"I heard a lot of stories about it, but I never faced one close to me, and this one was very close," Mesquita told KTAB/KRBC.

Upon seeing the funnel begin to take shape overhead, Mesquita said he loaded up his semi-truck and headed south for Abilene. The storm was hot on his tail the entire way down. He described baseball-sized hail pelting the hood of his cab not long after deciding to pull over when he could feel the heavy winds pulling on his truck.

"Oh, Absolutely. The wind is so powerful. That thing was spinning and getting dark. It got this sort of funnel shape, and that's when I started feeling the truck shaking," said Mesquita.

He captured footage of the funnel stretching down to the earth between Hawley and Abilene. Meanwhile, that same scene was captured from another angle, with residents all around the Hawley area bracing for impact.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I felt like 11. It was really scary... I'm from Florida originally, and we have hurricanes there, but that's nothing compared to this. Hurricane: You can predict it. This one, you can't. It moves freely wherever it wants to go," Mesquita said.

Early reports of damage and injury from the storm have been coming out of the area around Hawley. Mesquita said this was one of the most terrifying experiences of his driving career.