Thursday, May 16, 2013

6 dead and at least 100 injured as hail storms and tornadoes hit Texas





Multiple fatalities and 120 homes destroyed as storms and powerful tornadoes struck Texas Wednesday.

Matt Zavadsky, a spokesman for MedStar Mobile Healthcare says about 100 people were injured as tornadoes touched down several times in Hood, Tarrant, Dallas and Parker counties. Hardest hit were two neighborhoods, Rancho Brazos Estates and DeCordova Ranch, in the southern end of the town of about 8,000 residents.
"With these types of tornadoes, they touch down; they lift up; they touch down. They tend to hopscotch," he said.

The spokesman continued that "the crews on scene are doing a really good job to try and reach out to the folks that might be trapped or unable to get to a shelter or the triage area."
The witnesses also report powerful hail storms.


Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said six people were killed when the powerful storm struck a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood in the area. There were about 120 homes in the neighborhood and most of them were destroyed.
Local media also reports that hundreds of homes have been flattened with people inside.
Donna Martin, a worker at a local veteran's organization, said "there are a lot of traumatic injuries".
County officials are sending school buses to affected neighborhoods to help with evacuations.
Officers are going house to house looking for residents trapped, injured or dead in the rubble of demolished homes.
The National Weather Service warned that a mile-wide tornado reported by spotters had shifted its track and is now moving "right at the city of Cleburne," a community of about 15,000 people in north Texas.
"If you are in its path take cover immediately to protect your life," the weather service alert said.
The National Weather Service also said 32 counties in Texas and four in Oklahoma were under a tornado watch until 1 a.m. CT.
The Morning News newspaper said 37 flights had been diverted from Dallas/Fort Worth airport.
An average of 132 tornadoes hit Texas each year.
Tornado causes ‘multiple fatalities’ in North Texas, officials say
“Multiple fatalities” are reported from North Texas, hit by a tornado yesterday, the Washington Times has reported quoting AP.
According to officials, the tornado ripped through some neighborhoods of the city of Granbury, located on the Brazos River, at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Hood County sheriff’s Lt. Kathy Jiveden told about multiple fatalities it caused, but did not give details of dead or injured. A number of homes were demolished. Crews continue looking for those trapped, injured or dead, she noted.
The hardest hit area was the Rancho Brazos subdivision and adjoining areas along Lake Granbury, according to the local police.
 According to the National Weather Service, the tornado in Granbury resulted from a system of thunderstorms; they also warned of other tornadoes possible in the region until Thursday morning.

Ọmọ Oódua News From Nigeria, VOR, The Washington Post, CNN, The Telegraph

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