Severe Weather Aftermath Thread

[TexasStooge]

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Winds up to 80 mph generated by a collapsing thunderstorm damaged roofs, toppled trees and cut power to thousands of homes early today. Details to come shortly.

[TexasStooge]

High winds rip Tarrant County

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - About 30,000 TXU customers are without power in Tarrant County. Most of the outages are in Arlington and Fort Worth.

Strong winds which gusted as high as 67-miles per hour, according to the weather service, snapped tree limbs and downed power lines.

There have been no reports of injuries.

[TexasStooge]

High winds rip Tarrant County (Updated)

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — Winds up to 70 mph generated by a collapsing thunderstorm damaged roofs, toppled trees and cut power to thousands of homes in Tarrant County early Wednesday.

"It's bad. It's really bad," said Maggie Arredondo, who manages The Party Room in a Sansom Park strip mall. The wind tore into the log cabin-style building in the 5500 block of Jacksboro Highway, peeling away the roof.

Arredondo was visibly stunned to witness the damage to her business and two others in the same building.

TXU Electric Delivery said about 30,000 customers were blacked out in the wake of the storm.

TCU postponed the start of classes until 10 a.m.

In the 1400 block of Park Ridge Terrace in West Arlington, a 70-foot cottonwood tree toppled on the Allen home around 4 a.m.

"There was sheet rock and insulation everywhere," said Kelly Allen, who had been up late studying until shortly before the winds blew through her neighborhood. "The biggest thing I remember is my mom screaming. It's a pretty big mess in there."

While there was major damage to the house, Kelly's father, Lee Allen, said he felt fortunate that no one was hurt. "Couldn't believe it; just couldn't believe it," he said.

The wind damaged some aircraft at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. A small Cessna was flipped upside-down; two larger charter jets—a DC-9 and a Boeing 737—suffered damage when one of them spun into the other.

The violent weather system also peeled away the roof of a mobile home near the Tarrant-Parker county line.

Parker County sheriff's deputies were pressed into service as cattle herders after the wind knocked down a fence.

Morning rush hour traffic on local streets was slowed by debris, downed power lines and blacked-out traffic lights. Freeways were not affected.

There were no reports of injuries.

News 8 meteorologist Greg Fields said the powerful winds were generated by a collapsing thunderstorm. "This was a bit of an unusual event," he said, adding that more showers and thunderstorms were in the forecast for Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday.

WFAA-TV reporters Cynthia Vega in Sansom Park and Don Wall in Arlington and photojournalist Mike Zukerman in Parker County contributed to this report.


WFAA ABC 8
High wind ripped the roof off these shops on Jacksboro Highway.


WFAA ABC 8
A small plane was turned upside down at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth.

[TexasStooge]

Storms cause blackouts, wrecks

From WFAA ABC 8 Staff

Severe storms moved into North Texas early Friday, leading to numerous traffic wrecks and leaving thousands of homes blacked out.

As the storms moved out, the National Weather Service warned of high winds with gusts up to 60 mph.

At least three major accidents involving 18-wheelers forced police to shut down Interstate 20 near Hampton Road in Dallas. One of those 18-wheelers was jackknifed; a FedEx big rig overturned; and another semi-trailer was involved in a wreck with a pickup truck.

A TXU Electric spokeswoman said the storms knocked out power to 30,000 homes and businesses in Dallas and Tarrant counties.

High water was reported at the intersection of Interstate 35E and Walnut Hill in Dallas, where at least one vehicle was disabled.

Several trees were toppled near Clarendon Drive and Westmoreland Road in Dallas.

The storms weakened as daybreak approached, but the National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning. "Winds may be approaching 40, 50 even 60 mph," said News 8 meteorologist Greg Fields. "The winds will be a factor as we go through the rest of the morning," he said.

The weather service canceled the wind warning as conditions improved about 6:45 a.m.

"We definitely had some hail," Fields said. "It was pelting me as I drove in this morning."

Fields said the skies will clear Friday morning, but another round of overnight storms was in the forecast for Friday night and Saturday morning.

Investigators said lightning may have been a factor in an overnight house fire that sent Arlington firefighters to the 800 block of East Tucker.

One person in the house suffered smoke inhalation. A firefighter also suffered a cut to the hand; both were transported to a hospital.

There were indications that another house fire at Oak Hill Circle and Lake June Road in Dallas could have been sparked by lightning.

Central Texas was also slammed by storms overnight. In San Antonio, emergency teams performed 18 water rescues. One man floated away in an SUV; he was saved.

Kendall County, northwest of San Antonio, reported hail as large as four inches.

Near Austin Thursday night, winds gusted up to 73 mph and 50,000 homes were left without power.

Thursday's 1.5 inches of rain broke a nearly 40-year-old record.

[TexasStooge]

Storms cause blackouts, wrecks

From WFAA ABC 8 Staff

Severe storms moved into North Texas early Friday, leading to numerous traffic wrecks and leaving thousands of homes blacked out.

As the storms moved out, the National Weather Service warned of high winds with gusts up to 60 mph.

At least three major accidents involving 18-wheelers forced police to shut down Interstate 20 near Hampton Road in Dallas. Police said two of the wrecks involved a wrong-way pickup truck and were not directly weather related.

A TXU Electric spokeswoman said the storms knocked out power to 30,000 homes and businesses in Dallas and Tarrant counties.

High water was reported at the intersection of Interstate 35E and Walnut Hill in Dallas, where at least one vehicle was disabled.

Several trees were toppled near Clarendon Drive and Westmoreland Road in Dallas.

The storms weakened as daybreak approached, but the National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning. "Winds may be approaching 40, 50 even 60 mph," said News 8 meteorologist Greg Fields. "The winds will be a factor as we go through the rest of the morning," he said.

The weather service canceled the wind warning as conditions improved about 6:45 a.m.

"We definitely had some hail," Fields said. "It was pelting me as I drove in this morning."

Fields said the skies will clear Friday morning, but another round of overnight storms was in the forecast for Friday night and Saturday morning.

Investigators said lightning may have been a factor in an overnight house fire that sent Arlington firefighters to the 800 block of East Tucker.

"I heard the lightning strike somewhere and it woke me up," said neighbor Bobbie Phillips. "I went to look out the window to see if it was hailing, and I saw fire shooting out of the front door."

Phillips said the house went up in flames quickly after that.

A woman and her elderly son escaped without serious injury, although the woman suffered from smoke inhalation. A firefighter also suffered a cut to the hand; both were transported to a hospital.

Another house fire, at Oak Hill Circle and Lake June Road in Southeast Dallas, was blamed on a power surge.

Central Texas was also slammed by storms overnight. In San Antonio, emergency teams performed 18 water rescues. One man floated away in an SUV; he was saved.

Kendall County, northwest of San Antonio, reported hail as large as four inches.

Near Austin Thursday night, winds gusted up to 73 mph and 50,000 homes were left without power.

Thursday's 1.5 inches of rain broke a nearly 40-year-old record.

WFAA-TV reporters Cynthia Vega in Dallas and Carol Cavazos in Arlington; photojournalists Gary Ultee in Dallas and Russ Bauman in Arlington; and and WFAA.com editor Walt Zwirko contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Storms cause heavy damage in Waco

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

WACO, Texas — A violent storm packing winds up to 90 mph caused heavy damage in the Waco area early Saturday, but no injuries were reported.

According to preliminary reports, there were about 15 areas in McLennan County that suffered damage. The National Weather Service raised the possibility that tornadoes may have touched down, but that assessment was pending further analysis.

A Coca-Cola bottling plant on Franklin Avenue in Waco was among the hardest-hit locations. Its roof was peeled back like it had been attacked by a giant can opener and thousands of soft drink bottles littered the area.

Several trucks were overturned.

Not far from there, the studios of KWTX-TV, Channel 10, were also heavily damaged when high winds blew the roof off. The station was using a mobile unit to broadcast storm information to viewers in the Waco area.

While local officials were totaling the damage, they said there were no reports of serious injuries.

In North Texas, heavy rain that moved in after midnight lit up the skies with lightning and caused some street flooding, but no serious damage was reported.

TXU Electric Delivery reported about 900 customers were without power in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas after a feeder line failed.

News 8 meteorologist Steve McCauley said the rain had moved out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area by Saturday morning, but more storms were expected to fire up on Saturday afternoon.

West Texas took a beating Friday night. As baseball-sized hail fell in Abilene, smashing through car windshields and tearing through convertible soft tops.

Police in the town of Coleman confirmed that a tornado touched down briefly as well, it did no damage.

Officials there reported no injuries from last night's severe weather.

WFAA-TV reporter Carol Cavazos in Dallas contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Storm damage cleap up underway in Waco

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

WACO, Texas — A clean up is underway in Waco after a violent storm packing winds up to 90 mph caused heavy damage early Saturday.

According to preliminary reports, there were about 15 areas in McLennan County that suffered damage but no injuries were reported. The National Weather Service raised the possibility that tornadoes may have touched down, but that assessment was pending further analysis.

A Coca-Cola bottling plant on Franklin Avenue in Waco was among the hardest-hit locations. Its roof was peeled back like it had been attacked by a giant can opener and thousands of soft drink bottles littered the area.

Around six employees were in the building at the time. They managed to escape to the only room which was not damaged.

Just weeks ago, the firm had rewritten its evacuation plan - it worked.

"Certainly a little overwhelming to come in and see your facility look this way," said Coca-Cola's Scott Bottoms.

Several trucks were overturned while a furniture store saw every bit of its stock drenched.

Not far from there, the studios of KWTX-TV, Channel 10, were also heavily damaged when high winds blew the roof off. The station was using a mobile unit to broadcast storm information to viewers in the Waco area.

"We took a pretty significant hit," said KWTX-TV's Jim Peller. "Wind knocked all the power out."

While local officials were totaling the damage, they said there were no reports of serious injuries.

Restoring power could take several days.

It's up to the National Weather Service to determine whether what happened was caused by a funnel cloud but tornado warnings were in effect.

TXU Electric Delivery reported about 900 customers were without power in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas after a feeder line failed.

West Texas took a beating Friday night. As baseball-sized hail fell in Abilene, smashing through car windshields and tearing through convertible soft tops.

Police in the town of Coleman confirmed that a tornado touched down briefly as well, it did no damage.

Officials there reported no injuries from last night's severe weather.

WFAA-TV reporter Carol Cavazos in Dallas contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Tornadoes kill 3 in Collin County

COLLIN COUNTY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — Emergency crews were working to rescue people trapped after at least two tornadoes were reported in northern Collin County late Tuesday.

One tornado touched down in a rural area along FM 3133 north of Westminster, Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh said. The damage was concentrated on a corridor from Westminster to Van Alstyne, but homes were also damaged in Anna.

Three people were reported killed and several people were hurt, but the extent of their injuries was unclear late Tuesday.

An injured husband and wife from Westminster were flown to Parkland Memorial Hospital early Wednesday.

Westminster resident Dennis Lee was checking on a neighbor's welfare just minutes before a twister destroyed his home. "I could hear it overhead," he said. "When the trees started bending, I knew it was time to go back inside and find a safe spot."

Only a bathtub and part of one wall of Lee's home was left standing in the wake of the devastating winds.

"Somebody was looking after me," Lee said as he surveyed the scene. "This is just part of life; it's just something you have to deal with."

"Several houses were completely destroyed," Collin County public information officer Leigh Hornsby said. She noted that most of the area in the path of the storm was sparsely populated farmland.

News 8 reporter Dan Ronan said police were keeping him two miles from Van Alstyne, where more damage was reported.

In Anna, WFAA.com mobile journalist Aaron Chimbel reported trees down. A larger, older tree was uprooted and fell on top of a shed. At least one injury and power outages were also reported in the area.

The American Red Cross set up a shelter for storm victims at the Anna High School gymnasium.

Severe thunderstorms continued throughout early Wednesday morning in parts of North Texas after the Tuesday night tornadoes.

In northeastern Texas, a thunderstorm watch was extended until 3 a.m. Nickel-sized hail and gusting winds of 50 to 60 mph could be expected with the storm, said Chanel 8's chief weather anchor Troy Dungan.

A new storm that hit Grayson County was forecast to bring possible pea-sized hail, and a severe thunderstorm watch was issued until 6 a.m Wednesday.

While tornado warnings were issued for Collin, Fannin, Lamar and Red River counties as storms passed through that were responsible for heavy damage throughout the area, no thunderstorms were forecast to target the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area Wednesday morning.

At 10:31 p.m., storm spotters and doppler radar observed a large tornado 15 miles northeast of McKinney, moving east at 20 mph.

While the storm at one point lost some of its structure as it passed through Leonard and Bailey around 11 p.m., it began to grow again as it headed to Honey Grove around 11:15.

Trained storm spotters said they saw rotation five miles south of Paris around 11:30 p.m. after doppler radar detected a developing tornado in the area moving east at 35 mph.

An area of FM 2862 at County Road 477 in the Westminister and Anna area was closed to traffic. Ambulances were at the scene and witnesses in the area reported damage to cars and homes.

Dallas Morning News staff writers Scott Farwell, Jon Nielsen, Paul Meyer and David Renfrow, WFAA-TV reporters Steve Stoler in Westminster and Dan Ronan in Van Alstyne and WFAA.com mobile journalist Aaron Chimbel in Anna contributed to this report.

[SamSagnella]

Can you edit the topic so that the date is in the title? It seems like we have a topic called "severe weather aftermath" after every event and it'd be easier to look for old stuff if each one had a date.

[TexasStooge]

I'm just putting all the aftermath events into one thread.

[SamSagnella]

Code: Select all

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
350 PM CDT WED MAY 10 2006

...INITIAL RESULTS FROM DAMAGE SURVEY IN COLLIN AND GRAYSON COUNTIES
FROM STORMS ON MAY 9TH 2006...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS CONTINUE TO SURVEY DAMAGE
FROM TUESDAY EVENING'S TORNADOES ACROSS COLLIN AND GRAYSON COUNTIES.
THE SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE FROM APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES
EAST-NORTHEAST OF ANNA IN COLLIN COUNTY TO 2 MILES SOUTH OF
WHITEWRIGHT IN SOUTHEAST GRAYSON COUNTY.  A SMALL BREAK IN THE
DAMAGE PATH EAST OF ANNA WAS RECENTLY FOUND...SUPPORTING SPOTTER
REPORTS OF TWO SEPARATE TORNADOES. THE WORST DAMAGE TO SINGLE FAMILY
HOMES...JUST NORTH OF WESTMINSTER NEAR AND EAST OF FM 3133...HAS
BEEN RATED UPPER F3 ON THE SCALE.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS CONTINUE TO SURVEY THE
DAMAGE AND ARE WORKING WITH WIND ENGINEERING EXPERTS TO PRODUCE A
MORE DETAILED DAMAGE ANALYSIS AND SUMMARY. 

AN UPDATED PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED LATER TODAY.

[TexasStooge]

Tornado kills 3 in Collin County (Updated)

COLLIN COUNTY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — Emergency crews used heat-seeking sensors and search dogs Wednesday as they looked for victims of at least one tornado that roared across northern Collin County late Tuesday.

Three people were killed and 10 others were hospitalized with injuries related to the violent storm.

An elderly couple was found dead in a destroyed home in Westminster. They were identified as Mary Ellen Newsom, 80, and Harris Newsom, 82.

A teenager who was found dead at a separate location had not been identified as of early Wednesday afternoon.

The twister touched down in a rural area along FM 3133 north of Westminster, Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh said. The damage was concentrated in an eight-mile corridor that started north of Anna and passed through Westminster on its way to Van Alstyne.

"There is a possibility that we may find more victims," he added. "We're setting up an emergency telephone line. Many people abandoned their homes; some left notes there but others didn't."

Deffibaugh said the storm destroyed 26 homes; six other houses sustained major damage.

At noon Wednesday, the cleanup was continuing. "It's staggering," said WFAA-TV reporter Justin Farmer from Westminster. "We've just a few moments ago got into the real damaged area where homes have been destroyed. One home has been lifted from its foundations. A mattress has been wrapped around what's left of a telephone pole."

Deffibaugh said more than 100 people were treated for minor injuries.

"It sounded like a regular thunderstorm, then it went crazy," said Cathy Dotson, who huddled on the floor with her 13- and 10-year-old grandchildren when the tornado hit about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. "I could actually feel my house move. I looked outside my window, and all I could see was gray."

Police had blocked off the road leading to the elderly couple's neighborhood Wednesday.

Westminster resident Dennis Lee was checking on a neighbor's welfare just minutes before a twister destroyed his rented home. "I could hear it overhead," he said. "When the trees started bending, I knew it was time to go back inside and find a safe spot."

Only a bathtub and part of one wall of Lee's 900-square-foot house was left standing in the wake of the devastating winds.

"Somebody was looking after me," Lee said as he surveyed the scene. "This is just part of life; it's just something you have to deal with."

"Several houses were completely destroyed," Hornsby said. She noted that most of the area in the path of the storm was sparsely populated farmland.

In Anna, WFAA.com mobile journalist Aaron Chimbel reported trees down. A larger, older tree was uprooted and fell on top of a shed. At least one injury and power outages were also reported in the area.

The American Red Cross set up a shelter for storm victims at the Anna High School gymnasium.

"We've taken our first look at what appear to be the hardest hit areas here," said the organization's Anita Foster. "I'm sure television pictures aren't even going to show the reality that these families went through. Even more important than ever is our commitment to get mental health counselors here. I can't imagine the sheer terror these families went through."

The number of tornadoes and their strength would not be known until National Weather Service officials survey the damage Wednesday.

Severe thunderstorms continued throughout early Wednesday morning in parts of North Texas after the Tuesday night tornadoes.

In northeastern Texas, a thunderstorm watch was extended until 3 a.m. Nickel-sized hail and gusting winds of 50 to 60 mph could be expected with the storm, said Channel 8's chief weather anchor Troy Dungan.

A new storm that hit Grayson County was forecast to bring possible pea-sized hail, and a severe thunderstorm watch was issued until 6 a.m Wednesday.

While tornado warnings were issued for Collin, Fannin, Lamar and Red River counties as storms passed through that were responsible for heavy damage throughout the area, no thunderstorms were forecast to target the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area Wednesday morning.

At 10:31 p.m., storm spotters and doppler radar observed a large tornado 15 miles northeast of McKinney, moving east at 20 mph.

While the storm at one point lost some of its structure as it passed through Leonard and Bailey around 11 p.m., it began to grow again as it headed to Honey Grove around 11:15.

Trained storm spotters said they saw rotation five miles south of Paris around 11:30 p.m. after doppler radar detected a developing tornado in the area moving east at 35 mph.

An area of FM 2862 at County Road 477 in the Westminister and Anna area was closed to traffic. Ambulances were at the scene and witnesses in the area reported damage to cars and homes.

Dallas Morning News staff writers Scott Farwell, Jon Nielsen, Paul Meyer and David Renfrow, WFAA-TV reporters Steve Stoler in Westminster and Dan Ronan in Van Alstyne and WFAA.com mobile journalist Aaron Chimbel in Anna and editors Marjorie Owens in Dallas and Walt Zwirko in Little Elm and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

To contribute to the Red Cross, please call 214-678-4800 or click on Red Cross

[wxmann_91]

Here are some images of the damage - imo undoubtedly F4, at least. Some of the structures are wiped clean.

http://www.nbc5i.com/slideshow/slidesho ... etail.html

a preview

[Extremeweatherguy]

Yes, that looks like F4 or F5 damage for sure.

[Extremeweatherguy]

The NWS is saying it was an F3. I think that is ridiculous! Structures are not wiped clean in F3's (according the the fujita scale).

[wxmann_91]

Perhaps the QRT has not arrived yet? I wonder how well were these structures anchored?

[CrazyC83]

Yes, that looks like F4 or F5 damage for sure.

That was a mobile home.

[wxmann_91]

Yes, that looks like F4 or F5 damage for sure.

That was a mobile home.

Source of info? And that was not the only structure worthy of a Violent rating.

[Skywatch_NC]

Yes, that looks like F4 or F5 damage for sure.

That was a mobile home.

Source of info? And that was not the only structure worthy of a Violent rating.

I was gonna say...because that concrete slab area looks like where a house stood.

[Extremeweatherguy]

well the NWS now has updated their report and they still have it as an F3 with 150-160mph winds, which was based on the Enhanced fujita scale (which shouldn't be used until next year).