This unexpectedly vibrant Uneeda Biscuit sign retains it colors because it was protected for decades by a neighboring building, which had to be demolished after damage sustained in a 2008 fire and a 2014 severe thunderstorm weakened the building into a hazardous state.
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"Heavy storms answer prayers
Rainfall delivers hope to San Angelo
posted May 25, 2014
By Justin Zamudio
. . .
In a reprise of late September 2012, an astonishing rainfall over Memorial Day weekend filled Lake Nasworthy and quenched the parched ground around San Angelo within days of the city going to drought level 3, which would have imposed severe water conservation measures in recognition that only 12 months of water remained in surface water supplies.
It was the answer to many communal and individual prayers. At least two mass prayer events were held during May, and signs urging people to pray for rain have sprung up across the community.
Several storms moved through the area, starting with rain Friday night and continuing Saturday and Sunday.
. . .
The weekend weather had it all: thunder and lightning, rain, hail and high winds. In addition to drought relief, it revealed a bit of history.
Along with the roaring thunder, a bystander downtown Sunday night might have heard the racket of falling bricks as a 110-foot wall that formed part of a historic building blew over about midnight Sunday.
The front wall of the former Brest Boot Co. building couldn't withstand the wind.
It was one of several unruly storms that moved in succession through the area. Winds from a super-cell Saturday night were clocked at 65 mph, said Joel Dunn, meteorologist at the National Weather Service of San Angelo. From midnight Sunday and through the day, the weather service recorded 2.36 inches of rain, Dunn said.
For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the city recorded 5.5 inches with more rain expected in the coming days, he said.
On Sunday morning bricks lay strewed across the 500 block South Chadbourne Street.
Authorities barricaded the street, but no one was clearing the debris.
Fort Concho National Historic Landmark site manager Bob Bluthardt weathered the Sunday drizzle as he snapped photos of what was revealed by the collapsed wall - including a vintage Nabisco billboard on the historical building's interior.
"That is like going through your grandma's attic and finding a piece of history. I'm taking a photo and sending it to my brother who's a historian ? he'll really appreciate it," Bluthardt said.
The peeled advertisement read "National Biscuit Company Uneeda Biscuit." Bluthardt explained National Biscuit Company was shortened to spell Nabisco, and he said he got a kick out of the "Uneeda Biscuit" slogan.
Bluthardt chuckled and went on his way. Moments later Paul Paschal made his way to the wreckage of bricks. He also had a camera, but for other reasons ? insurance.
Paschal, owner of William R. Paschal & Sons Fine Wood Working, was assessing the damage because his building next to the Brest Boot structure had been battered by falling bricks.
Earlier this month the former Brest Boot Co. building had one of its walls collapse because of a strong thunderstorm. The building was weakened structurally by a fire that gutted it in December 2008.
"Demolition was set for Monday, and it had to come down on Saturday," Paschal said.
Paschal was surprised his 105-year-old building wasn't more damaged by the collapse.
"It sustained through the fire, and hopefully it will do the same with these storms," he said.
Mike Kelly and Jennifer Rios contributed to this report."