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The City of Orange and Orange County, as a whole, may have been spared the worst of the bad weather that struck Southeast Texas before dawn on Wednesday, but local officials are still keeping an eye out for later impacts.

Orange Public Works Director Adam Jack said highest gust of wind recorded locally was approximately 30 miles an hour.

The National Weather Service indicated to Orange Newsmedia that a similar reading was recorded at Orange County Airport.

“We didn’t see any micro bursts or any tornadoes,” Jack said Wednesday morning. “We had a couple of small trees down and minor street flooding from getting an inch or two inches (of rain) within an hour. There was no major wind damage (reported).”

All City of Orange services and city buildings, it is believed, went through the storm without losing power.

Elementary to college classes in and around the city operated under a delay Wednesday due to caution surrounding the weather and driving conditions.

“The worst thing we saw was a dead pine tree that came down on Bob Hall Road that closed Bob Hall Road briefly, maybe for 20 or 30 minutes, but we got that out of the way promptly,” Jack said.

City officials noted small-diameter trees, 4 -to 6-inches in diameter, came down during the storm but not much bigger.

“The other side of that will be watching what will the effects be in a day or two due to the heavy rains that were to the north,” Jack notes. “Obviously, all of that is going to drain down the Sabine River, down the Neches River. We will be watching the outlook by the Weather Service about what’s going to happen with the river stages.”

Weather report

The National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana, said it received reports of wind gusts exceeding 60 mph recorded in Sabine Pass.

Although rain is expected throughout the day, meteorologist Andy Tingler said the worst weather for Orange County has passed.

“We do have a few storms that are out there right now, and you may have some more throughout the day today; however, for the most part, rain chances will be decreasing throughout the middle of the day,” he said.

“We do have a cold front that will come through, so the winds may pick up some, but you are still expecting high (temperatures) close to 80 and low (temperatures) tonight back down into the 50s.”

Tingler said north of Orange County experienced quite a bit of rain.

From Woodville and over through Jasper and Newtown County, radar recorded some places with 12 to 17 inches of rain. That was starting Tuesday evening and continuing overnight into Wednesday.