Buc-ee’s turns into tornado shelter as storm hits Texas
TO Buc-ee’s pit-stop turned out to be the proper determination for a lot of on Tuesday, April 28, as a tornado ripped by Central Texas, bringing with it an enormous thunderstorm and baseball-sized hail.
Hillsboro, a city alongside I-35 between Waco and Dallas, was positioned underneath a tornado warning by the National Weather Service round 8 pm Tuesday night time. Not lengthy after that, residents have been hit with heavy rain, wind, and hail as everybody rushed to take shelter. More than a handful discovered security in Buc-ee’s, which, not for the primary time, turned into a storm shelter.
The Hillsboro Buc-ee’s is positioned at 165 US-77, Hillsboro, TX 76645, which simply occurred to be within the projected tornado path, in line with the NWS. TikToker williamwilson2044 captured video as the storm hit the beaver-branded gasoline station, whereas others posted photographs inside Buc-ee’s bogs, undoubtedly, the most secure a part of the shop.
“Taking shelter in the Hillsboro Bucees bathrooms,” Kami Elwood Wallace wrote on Facebook, “my car is parked under cover by the gas pumps….. all customers have been corralled into bathrooms and Robynne and I grabbed a stall! Scary storm outside… !”
“I already loved Buc-ee’s, but now even more,” Atkinson wrote on Facebook. “On my way to a show and get two tornado/softball size hail warnings within a couple of minutes along with friends and mom texting me weather reports. So I decide to pull under the awnings at the gas pumps at Buc-ee’s. Everyone had the same idea but I found a spot. The storm is approaching at this point. A guy next to me goes into the store and then comes back and grabs his dogs and says they are saying to come take shelter in the bathrooms and that we can take our dogs. So in we go. The bad stuff misses us but the wind and rain was crazy. There were dogs of every shape and size in there along with one cat.”
While the guests have been in a position to shelter unscathed, Buc-ee’s was not left unscathed. The well-known beaver logo was ripped off the sturdy winds, as proven by varied meteorologists. Buc-ee’s declined to remark when requested how a lot injury the Hillsboro retailer suffered.
However, this isn’t the primary time Buc-ee’s has turned into a storm shelter. The Hillsboro Buc-ee’s beforehand sheltered guests in April 2024, whereas the Temple Buc-ee’s has sheltered vacationers throughout tornadoes in 2024 and 2025. Patricia Bowers made a superb level on Facebook, writing that “Buc-ees may have a new claim to fame as ‘tornado shelter to Texas travelers!'”
