The new Wylie 911 call center now has a storm shelter after the historic 2016 hailstorm.

WILE, Texas. January 2023 marks one year since the opening of the new Wylie 911 Communications Center, which was destroyed by the 2016 hail.

On April 11, 2016, Wylie was hit by a historic hailstorm. According to the National Weather Service, 80% of homes were affected and more than $300 million in damage.

Tristian Porter and Sarah Zerger were emergency dispatchers that day.

“Then we started getting frantic phone calls from citizens about their windows breaking while driving,” Porter said.

“I have never been in such a situation. Obviously, I’m worried about my daughter in my house (alone),” Zerger said. But I knew I couldn’t just leave.

Between the hailstorm on the phone and the hailstorm that hit the roof of the 911 center, the dispatchers had trouble hearing the callers.

“Our ceiling started to sag and you could see water dripping in. We had to put up trash cans (to collect the water),” Porter recalls.

Fire Chief Brandon Blythe was also on duty that day.

“Very quickly, we ran out of units to answer (calls),” Blythe admitted. “Obviously we needed a lot of help that day because we were overwhelmed by the size of our department.”

Since then, the city of Wylie has rebuilt and adjusted to future weather events.

“Backup plans for back up plans,” Blythe said. “The redundancy is huge.”

The new 911 call center has a storm shelter. In addition, there is a backup communication center in Fire Station 4.

“We definitely take the hail threat very seriously,” Porter said.