Damage caused by overnight storm at Whitehouse resident Bonnie Horchler's home at Brookside Drive and Gardenview Street.

Lifelong Whitehouse resident Patrick Warren said in all of his years living in the city, he’s never seen a storm cause as much damage as the one that rolled through early Tuesday.

One person was killed in the storm, which also damaged homes and left some Whitehouse residents without power.

The Whitehouse Police Department identified W. M. Solomon, 71, as the man who died. Whitehouse Mayor James Wansley said strong winds caused a tree to fall onto Solomon’s home.

The storm was contained to about a mile-and-a-half radius in the southeastern part of the city, said Whitehouse Fire Chief Madison Johnson.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate with the tornadoes and stuff not hitting this side of Whitehouse before now,” Warren said.

Overnight, Warren said he heard what he thought was a transformer pop, knocking out his electricity. What he didn’t expect was to walk outside later and see two trees that had fallen over Highway 110, taking out power lines with them.

“I just thank the Lord that it didn’t hit the house,” he said.

Warren said Tuesday morning he had been outside since about 6 a.m. picking up a little and assessing the damage.

“I don’t want to have another block party like this, ever,” he said about the many residents who were out Tuesday cleaning their yards.

About a dozen Whitehouse homes sustained major damage, while several others had minor damage, Johnson said.

Whitehouse resident Brittany Campbell said she was woken up about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday by her daughter. She looked out the window and said the storm was so “intense” she could not even see their back patio.

Not long after waking up, she heard a large crash, which she assumed was her neighbor’s shed flying onto the roof. After getting a closer look, she saw a tree had fallen onto their garage and part of their house.

The tree collapsed their garage and trapped a truck inside, she said. But everyone was unharmed.

“I am just so, so thankful because the corner window by where the tree fell is actually my daughter’s room, and the one right next to it is my son’s room, so it was a blessing,” Campbell said. “Maybe some angel pushed it over — I don’t know.”

Family, friends and neighbors helped cut up the large tree and clean the branches in Campbell’s yard.

“The community has been awesome — I have some amazing friends and family, some amazing neighbors,” Campbell said. “The generosity people give has just been phenomenal, and I am so thankful and so blessed that no one was hurt.”

Other Whitehouse residents said Tuesday they were concerned about the loss of power.

With the electricity off, Bonnie Horchler said she “fears it’s going to get hot, and I can’t take the heat,” adding that’s she’s recently been ill.

Along with the power being out at her home, part of a tree also fell in her yard at Brookside Drive and Gardenview Street.

Horchler said having slept through the storm, she didn’t expect to be without power Tuesday or to find a split tree in her yard.

Johnson said Tuesday afternoon that power had been restored to thousands of residents, but about 1,700 were still in the dark. He added that most roads were passable, and the rest were expected to be by the end of Tuesday.