SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio and surrounding counties were pounded by heavy storms for hours.

Early in the morning lightning sparked a fire and destroyed a home in North Bexar County.

"It's a very very dangerous situation when you've got rain, you've got lightening, and you've got fire all going at the same time," Ken Jarvis with Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department said.

As rain persisted -- San Antonio Fire Department responded to at least nine high water rescues.

One rescue survivor told Spectrum News his harrowing experience before getting rescued.

"Prior to it dropping, the spot I was at was up to about my chest. But when it dropped I was able to take a tree branch I was holding on to, get out a little closer to her, and all of a sudden there was higher land," Bryan Rees said.

When morning came San Antonio braced itself for another push coming from the west.

Heavy hail and rain only lasted a short time -- but it was enough to leave a mark or two.

"I kept driving and it kept getting worse and worse. When the hail started coming down I was like where do I pull over,” said Cynthia Morales as she was driving to work. “And my windshield, the hail hit it and it just broke in the corner. I was so scared.”