A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held on Feb. 7 at Collin College Farmersville Campus, 501 S. Collin Parkway, Farmersville.

The workshop is a joint effort of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, North Texas Municipal Water District, NTMWD, and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.

The free workshop will run from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Coffee, snacks and lunch are provided. Preregistration is required at https://tx.ag/LSHSFeb7LavonLake.

Four Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits for pesticide applicators are available in the integrated pest management and laws and regulations categories.

The program will focus on the Lavon Lake watershed and discuss basic watershed function, water quality and specific best management practices.

“The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams program is to protect Texas waterways from bacterial contamination originating from livestock, wildlife and invasive species that may pose a serious health risk to Texans,” said Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams coordinator, Bryan-College Station.

“The aim is to increase awareness, provide educational materials to Texas livestock producers and landowners, and encourage implementation,” Wiley said.

The event includes information on voluntary conservation practices along with sources for technical and financial assistance designed to reduce pollutants such as fecal bacteria in waterways.

“Lavon Lake supplies drinking water for over 2 million people in North Texas,” said David Cowan, watershed manager for the North Texas Municipal Water District. “It also provides wildlife habitat, recreation and flood control. So, it is an extremely important water resource for the region.”

He said routine water quality monitoring in Wilson Creek and the East Fork of the Trinity River upstream of Lavon Lake indicate elevated levels of bacteria.

“In order to address these issues, NTMWD and AgriLife Extension worked in partnership with local stakeholders to develop a non-regulatory watershed protection plan for Lavon Lake,” Cowan said. “The plan identifies potential sources of pollution in the watershed and strategies for protecting and improving water quality. More information on this project will be presented at the workshop.”

Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act Section 319 nonpoint source grant administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information on the workshop, contact Wiley at 979-240-8407 or leanne.wiley@ag.tamu.edu; Cowan at 469-626-4416 or dcowan@NTMWD.com; or Chase Brooke, AgriLife Extension agent for Collin County at 972-548-4232 or chase.brooke@ag.tamu.edu.

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There is no indication that the collapse was caused by a tornado. A fire in Altoga, northeast of McKinney, was caused by lightning. Denton County experienced large hail during the storms. Large hail in June is unusual for North Texas.

As covered by Fox 4 meteorologist Evan Andrews, North Texas experienced another night of severe storms, leaving a trail of damage in its wake. The storm reports from Thursday night indicated that the severe weather extended from the Red River to the southeast. Currently, nearly 30,000 customers in North Texas are without electricity, with Grayson County in the Sherman-Denison area being the most affected. Hopkins and Collin Counties also have thousands of customers without power.

In Collin County, specifically in Lavon, part of the Independent Financial Bank collapsed during the storm, crashing onto the pavement. The drive-thru canopy, where customers conduct business from their cars, broke off while a Tornado Warning was in effect. Although it is not confirmed whether a tornado caused the collapse, winds in the area were estimated to be up to 80 miles per hour. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.

Another incident in Collin County was a fire in Altoga, a few miles northeast of McKinney. Lightning is believed to be the cause of the fire, which was extinguished with the help of firefighters from Melissa, Anna, and Princeton. Two individuals and a dog managed to escape safely.

Moving on to Denton County, residents witnessed some of the largest hail of the week. Venessa Henderson shared a photo of an enormous hailstone found in Sanger. The hailstones were so large that they caused damage to property, including shattered glass tables in people’s backyards. This occurrence is quite unusual for North Texas in June.

Given these points, the recent severe storms have left a significant impact on North Texas, with power outages and property damage being the major concerns. The affected counties, such as Collin and Denton, are currently dealing with the aftermath of the storms and working towards restoring normalcy. It is crucial for residents to stay updated with the latest weather forecasts and take necessary precautions during such severe weather events.

For more information and visual content related to these storms and their aftermath, you can visit the Fox 4 News website at https://www.fox4news.com/weather/dallas-weather-storms-drop-huge-hail-tears-roof-off-bank-in-lavon.amp.

Photo Credit: images.foxtv.com

Many people across North Texas are cleaning up after storms rocked their communities Thursday night.

The city of Lavon in Collin County was hit hard with 80 mph winds.

Rose Farmer heard the hurricane-force winds whistling through her front door.

“It was really swirling. It was exciting but scary,” she told NBC 5.

Outside the Lavon home she shares with partner Joe Bellows was more chaos.

"I could hear a boom boom on the metal building. I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s trying to pick up the carport."

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The storm’s winds peeled off the entire side of their 30-foot shop. Garage doors were bent or pulled off completely. However, many items on the shelves stayed put, which has the couple questioning the origin of the wind.

"The wind started picking up and I mean, it came in fast and hard. Like 80 mph winds. It was so fast,” Farmer said. "I've seen tornadoes. I know to respect them."

An internet tower on their property that services Lavon also came down.

Thankfully, insurance will cover all of the damages.

"I was born and bred here, I know what the storms do,” said Bellows.

Thursday night's severe weather took down trees and damaged roofs and tossed debris around the city. The drive-thru of the Independent Financial Bank collapsed from the winds and remains closed while repairs are being made.

“We have several trampolines that are not where they're supposed to be, they've been blown everywhere,” said Danny Anthony, fire chief of Lavon Fire Department.

Sam Oliyide’s roof was damaged to the point that water leaked into his home. It was a long night for his family.

“It sounded like a car was going to hundred 300 mph. The noise was too much,” he said.

The Lavon Fire Department, which has a couple of dozen people in the department, has been all hands on deck.

"We've had a couple of houses where holes were blown in the roof and they had a ceiling collapse inside their house and things like that. It was just trying to get to everything that we had,” Anthony said. “Our storage building off Highway 205, it completely took its roof off. Both sides of it, just wiped it out.”

Texas Sky Ranger captured more damage near Sulphur Springs in Hopkins County, just northeast of Dallas, where a building was destroyed.

In nearby Como Pickton ISD, all athletic events are canceled after several buildings were damaged.

More damage was reported in Canton, where crews spent the day fixing downed powerlines and cleaning up scattered debris. The National Weather Service is investigating the storm reports and has so far confirmed winds of up to 85 mph in Canton.

In Denton County, residents in the Sanger area experienced monster hail the size of a tennis ball to a grapefruit.

No major injuries have been reported in any of the storms.

"It's not a good thing but it can be fixed. It can be fixed,” said Farmer.

Provident Realty Advisors is planning a big master-planned community with about 1,000 single-family homes on 540 acres north of Rockwall.

The Dallas-based office of Trez Capital provided a $24 million loan to Provident to develop 281 single-family lots in phase one of the community, called "Hillstead."

Upon completion, Hillstead, in Lavon, will have roughly 1,000 single-family homes, according to a news release from Vancouver-based Trez Capital. Lot sizes in Hillstead will range from 40 to 70 feet.

The phase one lots are expected to be delivered in late spring/early summer of 2024.

Hillstead’s builder lineup includes Perry Homes, Drees Homes, Highland Homes and American Legend Homes.

This deal marks Trez Capital’s fifth financing to Dallas-based Provident.

“Provident Realty Advisors is thrilled to team yet again with Trez Capital as one of our capital partners in the land development space,” Rylan Yowell, the managing director of Master-planned Communities at Provident, said in a prepared statement. “In this tough lending environment, we’re pleased that Trez Capital understood the potential of this tract of land with its strong schools and proximity to Rockwall.”

Funding for developments like this — and almost all real estate projects — is getting much harder to come by, John Hutchinson, the newly named co-CEO of Trez Capital told the Dallas Business Journal in a recent interview. Hutchinson is based in Trez’s Dallas office.

While the bank lending crunch is making loans for lot development and homebuilders difficult to pencil, homebuyer demand remains strong, Hutchinson said.

“Home sales are very good here in Texas,” he said. “Builders are selling homes. They're buying down mortgages in many cases for their homebuyers who want to get into the homes with a lower interest rate. But we have a shortage of housing in Texas, which is, I think, getting worse instead of better since housing construction slowed down.”

Hillstead complements the “lake life,” sitting in between Lavon Lake and Lake Ray Hubbard, providing residents with amenities catered to recreational living, Yowell said. The community will offer a variety of outdoor and indoor activities including a clubhouse, a pool, hiking and biking trails, pocket parks and scenic lookouts.

The property for Hillstead is located just off Highway 205 in the Wylie Independent School District.

The master-planned community will provide easy access to job centers via I-30 to the south and highway 78 to the north, and close to shopping in Rockwall, said Grant Morrow, vice president of origination for Trez Capital, Central & Southwestern.

“The Dallas-Fort Worth area continues to be a popular area due to inbound migration and a strong economy,” Morrow said. "There continues to be a shortage of single-family homes with demand outpacing supply in the region, with no signs of slowing down for the next few years, so we are pleased to provide financing for this new master-planned development that will help meet the need for more single-family homes.”

Lavon and the Rockwall area provide “a vibrant, small-town feel for those families who want a quieter atmosphere but also need convenient access to Dallas,” Morrow added. “This development will offer just that.”

Provident, a privately held real estate and investment firm, has developed or invested in more than $5.5 billion worth of real estate projects across the country since its formation in 1991.

Trez Capital, founded in 1997, is a diversified real estate investment firm and provider of commercial real estate debt and equity financing in Canada and the United States. The Dallas office has funded more than $6.2 billion in loans.

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LAVON, Texas - Staff members and students at NeSmith Elementary in the Collin County city of Lavon were taken to the hospital after a gas leak near campus.

Superintendent Tonya Knowlton says a construction crew working on a building addition hit a gas line.

Lavon Fire Department responded, and the leak was contained within 15 minutes. No gas readings were found in the school by firefighters or Atmos, according to the city manager.

In a letter to parents, the superintendent says the district "failed to update an increase in symptom reports."

School continued after people became sick, but now school will be closed for the rest of the week to allow for a full inspection.

"Atmos actually did two sweeps of the building checking air quality. Found no indication of gas inside the building," Knowlton said.

Later, however, some staff members and students experienced headaches and nausea.

Parents were notified that they could pick their kids up early, but they were not required to. The school and buses maintained normal operating hours.

"It was a little alarming," Knowlton said. "We wanted to make sure we were you know addressing everyone who was having symptoms."

FOX 4 observed Atmos and construction crews examining the scene early Wednesday evening. The district is hopeful that Thursday’s schedule will be normal.

Nine staff members requested to be transported to the hospital.

SKY 4 spotted multiple ambulances outside the school.

The district says two students also reported feeling effects from the gas leak and were taken to the hospital.

Parents were told they could pick their students up early if they wanted to, but it was not required.

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Five children and their mother are in the hospital because of carbon monoxide from a car running in their garage. But firefighters said it could have been much worse if one child hadn't reacted the way she did.

The district has not provided specific health updates on the 11 people who went to the hospital. It did say at least four people have been released.

Community ISD says Atmos Energy and the Lavon Fire Department tested multiple sites inside the school and did not detect any gas inside the campus.