DisastersTornadoes rip through North Texas, killing six
As many as ten tornadoes ran through north Texas Wednesday night killing six people and leaving another seven missing. These were among the most severe storms to hit the United States this year. The National Weather Service said wind speed reached 200mph.
One of several tornadoes striking north Texas, killing six // Source: Insuranceforfun via youtube.com
As many as ten tornadoes ran through north Texas Wednesday night killing six people and leaving another seven missing. These were among the most severe storms to hit the United States this year.
CNN reports that local authorities said the death toll could rise as a result of the storms. The tornadoes inflicted significant damage across four counties around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Hood County spokesman Tye Bell said seven people are still missing, and at least forty-five are injured, most of them rsidents of a single subdivision of homes. The six people who reported dead all came from a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood in the small town of Granbury, which suffered the most damage.
“I’ve been assured by my deputies on the scene that they’re pretty confident with the six that they found, but there was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we’re going to have to search the area out there,” Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds told reporters.
More than 100 homes in the neighborhood were destroyed by the tornadoes as well as power lines and trees, leaving around 250 people homeless.
In Ellis County, another tornado knocked out power.
“Several buildings in the downtown historic district have been seriously damaged,” City Manager Steve Howerton told reporters.
“The main concern is life safety and finding any victims that still need our help, making sure we tend to those victims and their pets, too,” Deeds told reporters.
The National Weather Service reported three tornadoes ran through Montague and Hood counties. The service also said that the tornado warnings left people with more time than normal. The average time between a warning and the touchdown of a tornado is usually around thirteen minutes.
In Hood County, a warning was issued twenty-five minutes before a tornado touched down and in Montague County citizens heard the warning fifteen to thirty minutes before the tornado hit.
More tornadoes are expected in the state this weekend according to the Weather Channel and at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport about sixty flights have been cancelled and another seventy have been diverted.
Tornadoes in the Midwest are normal this time of year, especially in Texas.
