HOUSTON — Across several social media platforms, people are questioning how a framed home toppled over during the Houston-area storms on May 16.
According to the National Weather Service, a derecho pushed through the area that day. A derecho is a storm packing winds of at least 58 mph for more than 240 miles. The storm started in Austin and moved into the Houston area, producing two EF-1 tornadoes in Cypress and Waller County, while bringing straight-line wind damage across metro areas of Houston.
In the social post, the captions all indicate the Houston derecho caused the framed home to collapse, but the posts do not reference where specifically the video was shot.
The KHOU 11 Verify Team tracked down answers to determine if the video that's been seen more than a million times is real.
THE QUESTION
Is the video of a framed house collapsing during the derecho real?
THE SOURCES
The Greater Houston Home Builders Association
Google Lens
Chastity White & Randy Dawson
National Weather Service
THE ANSWER
Yes, the video of a framed house collapsing during the derecho is real.
WHAT WE FOUND
The KHOU 11 Verify Team learned that the people responsible for posting the video were Chastity White and Randy Dawson. The pair are business partners who went to look at their company sign in Willis near a home just off Lake Conroe in Montgomery County.
In a Zoom interview, White said she was only aware it was going to rain on Thursday, May 16. The business partners were also joined by another associate, and White said they were catching up with each other for around 10 minutes when the weather took a grim turn.
White describes the experience as insane, saying, "It was an experience ... one that I don't want to experience again."
The social media post starts off showing the U.S. and Texas state flags flying strongly before a portable toilet is hoisted into the air moments later. Just after that, the home falls to the ground layer by layer.
White told the KHOU 11 Verify Team, that her business partner Randy Dawson captured the moment on camera. She said moments before the collapse they were discussing the possibility of the framing falling due to the strong wind.
"I was like wondering if the wind would knock down that house, that frame," White said. "Randy said, 'I guarantee it will because it doesn't have any bracing on it yet.'"
The trio took cover inside a fully constructed home across the street just before the home hit the ground. The home faces Lake Conroe, where the same trio captured a lightning strike on video. Both events are posted to White's Instagram account in a single video.
White was unaware of how much online attention her video was getting.
"A friend of mine called me and said, 'Do you know your video has gone viral with 2.1 million views?' I was like, 'No I had no clue,'" White said.
In the video comments, posters compared the collapse of the framing to the video game "Angry Birds" and the fable of "The Three Little Pigs."
Although White is taking her viral moment positively, she said it could have turned serious if they had not been near the completely built home, saying "Nature does its course, and if you are not prepared in a time like that things happen."
White told the KHOU 11 Verify Team that she will be working with the company responsible for the structure to see what the next steps will be.
The KHOU 11 Verify Team visited the collapse site Monday evening, where much of the debris from the collapsed home had been cleaned up.
