Battered by a 322 km/h tornado
Days of wild weather cause scores of deaths
At least 11 people died and dozens were injured as tornadoes barrelled through the Dallas area and caused substantial damage.
Another 13 people died in flooding in the Midwest.
It was the latest of a succession of powerful weather events across the US, from heavy snow in New Mexico, west Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle to flooding in parts of the Plains and Midwest. Days of tumultuous weather have led to 43 deaths overall — those in Texas, plus five in Illinois, eight in Missouri and 19 in the Southeast.
The full extent of damage from storms along a nearly 65km stretch near Dallas came into clear focus. Local officials estimated as many as 1450 homes were damaged or destroyed. Vehicles were mangled, power lines fell and trees were toppled. Heavy rain, wind and falling temperatures hampered clean-up efforts.
“This is a huge impact on our community and we’re all suffering,” Garland Police Lieutenant Pedro Barineau said of the suburb about 32km northeast of Dallas, where eight people died, 15 were injured and about 600 structures, mostly singlefamily homes, were damaged.
The weather service said an EF-4 tornado, which is the second-most powerful with winds up to more than 322 km/ h, hit the community. It was near the intersection of Interstate 30 and George Bush Turnpike, which is a major route in the region. At least three people who died were found in vehicles, said Barineau, who also noted that some cars appeared to be thrown from the interstate, though it wasn’t known whether that was how the people found in the vehicles died.
Natalie Guzman, 33, was looking over her family’s home in a Garland neighbourhood. The garage wall had collapsed and the roof fell in. The only part of the house that appeared to be spared was the master bathroom, where her brother-in-law took shelter. He was the only one at home and told her he had just enough time to get himself and his dogs into the bathroom.
“It was worse than I thought,” Guzman said, comparing the scene to the photos he had sent on Sunday.
In the nearby town of Rowlett, City Manager Brian Funderburk said that 23 people were injured, but that there were no deaths and no reports of missing people. The weather service said damage indicated it was likely an EF3 tornado, which has winds up to 265 km/h.
Jenkins said that as many as 600 homes were damaged in Rowlett.
Homes in the neighbourhood that had been searched by emergency responders were marked with a black “X.” In some instances, it looked like homes had been picked up and set back down in a big pile. State troopers blocked off roads, utility crews restored power and people walked around, hushed and dazed.
Three other people died in Collin County, about 70km northeast of Dallas, according to sheriff’s deputy Chris Havey, although the circumstances were not immediately clear.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott made disaster declarations for four counties — Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and Ellis — and warned that the number of victims could rise.
On the other side of the state, the Department of Public Safety in Amarillo strongly discouraged travel throughout the entire Texas Panhandle — a 26-county area covering nearly 67, 340 sq km — because blowing and drifting snow had made the roads impassable.