MIDLAND, TX (KWES) - Wednesday night, one man was arrested for drunk driving following an accident in Midland.
According to police, 25-year-old Joshua C. Lyle, of Odessa, crashed into the National Weather Service building, causing damage to the exterior.
No injuries were reported and the driver remains in police custody.
“We’re very thankful that no one was hurt during the crash at the office here,” said Pat Vesper, meteorologist in charge at the NWS.
Even with the commotion, the weather team’s work does not stop.
“Currently, we’re working with our regional headquarters, just assessing the damage to the building, although operations have continued just as they normally do," said Vesper. "We continue to protect life and property and that’s our main mission.”
The length from the service road to the location of the crash was the length of five football fields.
“Certainly, in the 20 years that I’ve been here, I’ve never had anything like this happen ever before,” said Vesper.
There are 122 NWS facilities across the country, all of which, have a plan in place if something were to happen to the facility.
“If we, for whatever reason, cannot issue warnings as an example, then we have a sister office, in our case, it’s San Angelo would seamlessly take over operations and would issue all the same products and services and keep all our partners and the public informed,” said Vesper.
