Eddie G. Griffin (BASG): An Answer to a Prayer in McKinney

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

An Answer to a Prayer in McKinney

On June 5, 2015 at approximately 7:15 p.m., officers from the McKinney Police Department responded to a disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool. The initial call came in as a disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave.

10 MILLION viewers have seen the McKinney, Texas video. Everybody saw the incident the sparked national outrage, but fewer people saw the parents and community come together to pray for their city, and that the right thing is done.

On June 9, 2015, while everybody was waiting for the McKinney Police Department to make a statement, supposedly by Police Chief Greg Conley at 5:30 p.m., I listened for the news report and heard that a powerful microburst thunderstorm suddenly appeared on the horizon, north of Love Field, about 40 miles from McKinney. My first fear was protesters getting caught in the rain.

The weatherman had sworn that we would see no more rain in a week. But this one caught them totally by surprise, because it popped up out of nowhere.

At 4:22pm this afternoon, automated reporting sensors at Dallas Love Field reported a wind gust of 59 knots (~67mph) from the northeast. A strong thunderstorm had developed over Dallas at around 4pm, and while it was not strong enough to warrant a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, a Special Weather Statement had been issued by the NWS office in Ft. Worth at 4:06pm advising that winds in excess of 40mph and dime size hail were possible with this storm…

Flash Flood Warning for Downtown Dallas, Highland Park, University Park, northwest to Love Field. A small but potent thunderstorm has dumped two inches of rain in a short period of time. In addition winds up to 70 MPH were reported earlier at Love Field. Several roads are underwater and impassable.

How long will the storm last? Would it impact McKinney 40 miles away? Would it cause Chief Greg Conley to delay his press conference?

But by the time Conley stepped to the podium, the sky was clear. It was a beautiful day, and a good day for good news. Officer David Eric Casebolt had resigned from the force.