Severe Weather Aftermath Thread
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cheezyWXguy
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TexasStooge
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TexasStooge
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A storm that 'went crazy'
Parts of Collin declared a disaster; power likely to be restored today
By ROY APPLETON, TIARA M. ELLIS and JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
WESTMINSTER, Texas – Mike Owens gripped his grandson and braced his back and feet against the laundry room wall for the coming tornado. The washer and dryer fell on top of them, the house was destroyed, and enough dirt to fill a Dixie cup packed his mouth.
Once the tornado passed, he shouted for his wife, nephew and son who had huddled under the stairs. Only two answered.
His 14-year-old son, Colson Owens, was one of three people killed after two tornadoes swept through the rolling hills and farmland in northern Collin and southern Grayson counties late Tuesday.
"We yelled for Colson, my son, and got no answer – and never did," Mr. Owens, 51, said Wednesday as neighbors hauled away debris and searched for what might be salvageable.
In the darkness, it took two hours for rescuers to find Colson's mother, Susan Owens, who was buried under the rubble of their wrecked home in Grayson County. Colson, a freshman at Van Alstyne High School, was found dead a few feet away, his father said. Flying lumber had struck him in the chest.
An elderly couple, possibly seeking shelter outside their mobile home, were also killed. Ten people were hospitalized – three flown out by air ambulance – and at least 26 homes destroyed. Injuries included a broken leg, abrasions and cuts.
The storm crumpled homes, downed power lines and toppled trees. The National Weather Service said one of the tornadoes was an F-3 on the Fujita scale, with maximum winds of 206 mph.
The bodies of Paul Harris Newsom, 82, and his wife, Mary Ellen Newsom, 80, were found in a ravine near their home, less than a mile from where Colson died. Officials were unsure whether they were taking cover or were pulled from their home.
At least two horses, two cows and a dog were killed, officials said.
Grayson County Sheriff J. Keith Gary said the tornadoes cut a swath about 200 to 300 yards wide and about eight miles long.
Some said they didn't know the tornado was coming until they heard the telltale train sound. Television reports, friends or relatives warned others. A 95-year-old Grayson County man was awakened by glass falling on his face.
Anna's emergency siren sounded twice, the first at 10:15 p.m. There are no warning devices in or around Westminster. Homes are too far apart, making sirens ineffective, Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh said.
Collin County has a system to call residents with warnings, but it was not used. Marshal Deffibaugh said there was not enough time, and the tornadoes knocked out power and telephone lines.
Police and firefighters from more than 20 cities responded. About 100 Westminster residents remained without power Wednesday afternoon. Power is expected to be restored today, Collin County spokeswoman Leigh Hornsby said.
Collin County Judge Ron Harris declared the affected parts of the county a disaster area and instituted a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The county asked that people stay away from the tornado-ravaged area.
Too early to quantify
Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, said it was too early to project insured losses.
"There are sufficient adjusters in the area to efficiently handle the number of claims, but we strongly encourage anyone who has damage to contact their insurance agent or company as soon as possible," Mr. Johns said.
Frances Fonsville and her daughter, Sharon Fonsville, both of Westminster, clung to each another as a burst of wind pulled them into their windowless garage. Then the roof collapsed – possibly the luckiest outcome.
"It was a suction that was unbelievable. It just blew us into the garage," said Sharon Fonsville, 43. "If it was not for the roof falling on us, we might have been blown out of the house."
Frances Fonsville's bedroom door blew through the house and broke in half. But the dishes in a black and gold china cabinet remained perfectly aligned.
Glass cut their bare feet. Blood stained the floor, walls and cushions. The women escaped with only stitches – five for the daughter, 25 for her mother.
About the same time, Cathy Dotson couldn't see anything but gray sky when she looked out her kitchen window near Westminster.
"It sounded like a regular thunderstorm, then it went crazy," said Ms. Dotson, 53, who huddled in a space between the bathroom and a closet with her two grandsons when the tornado hit Westminster about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. "I could actually feel my house move."
Then it was over.
"No sooner had we got there, it just stopped," she said. "No wind. No nothing. Just quiet."
A large portion of the roof from her yellow house was missing. The attic was visible from the yard. Her metal shed was gone. So was her porch swing.
'No place to be'
Westminster resident Dennis Lea's good deed may have spared his life.
Mr. Lea was warning a neighbor just minutes before a twister destroyed his rented home. When the twister roared through, he took shelter in the woman's home.
"Those trees out there were doubled over," he said. "I said, 'Man, this is no place to be.' "
Mr. Lea spent early Wednesday picking and sorting through the rubble of his 900-square-foot home that was left standing after the devastating winds.
"I must have [ticked] Mother Nature off," he said. "I'm a thrill-seeker, but this was enough for me."
Harley Roche, 83, was in bed when the twister tore through his land along County Road 480 west of Westminster.
"Things began to hit the building," Mr. Roche said. "I thought it was ice at first. ... I heard all this noise like a freight train."
Although his one-story brick home sustained only minor roof damage, both his cars were damaged and an outbuilding was flattened, leaving a Ford tractor sitting on its foundation. Winds blew the roof off his workshop, and a piece of lumber was driven through what was left of its metal walls. A giant hackberry tree near his back porch was uprooted.
Mr. Roche said he rode out the tornado with his 34-year-old grandson inside his home of 26 years, which lacks a storm cellar.
"I heard things snapping and breaking in the wind," he said. "I said a little prayer that the house didn't blow away."
American Red Cross spokeswoman Anita Foster said nearly 100 people sought refuge at Anna High School, although most left by 5 a.m. to head home or seek shelter with family or friends.
Ms. Foster said the Red Cross would have disaster teams in the community over the next few days to help those who lost loved ones or property. They also expected to counsel families with children who were terrorized by the disaster.
"It's such a sad situation what has happened here in this community – not just the physical losses but the emotional aftermath that people will go through," she said.
In downtown Westminster, Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers served food and drinks to emergency workers. And men wearing orange jumpsuits from the Collin County sheriff's inmates work program unloaded a Home Depot truck filled with donated gloves, tarps, bottled water and roofing material.
Cecil Kyle, 69, fled to shelter in a carwash after his son called to warn him. He lives about a mile northeast of where Colson died.
"I got out the back with my shirt and pants in hand, just wearing my skivvies," he said.
Mr. Kyle said he doesn't know whether he will rebuild his uninsured home, but isn't sad or bitter about his loss.
"I've been blessed all the years I've had. My luck hasn't run out."
Dallas Morning News staff writers Kimberly Durnan, Alan Melson, and Paula Lavigne and staff photographer Guy Reynolds contributed to this report.
JIM MAHONEY/Dallas Morning News
Tuesday night's tornado marked an ominous path of destruction along the ground in northeastern Collin County.
_____________________________________________________________
How to help
The North Texas Food Bank, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army provided food to storm victims. More than 2,000 pounds of food were distributed. A food collection site has been set up at Tom Thumb, 3001 Hardin Blvd. at El Dorado Parkway in McKinney. Donations of nonperishable nutritious foods such as peanut butter, beans, rice, pasta and tuna will be accepted.
_____________________________________________________________
Date of disaster
Tuesday's killer storm marked the third time that a deadly tornado struck Collin County on May 9.
In 1927, a tornado virtually destroyed the town of Nevada, killing 28 people and injuring 100. That tornado and another in 1993 touched down about 10 miles and exactly 66 years apart.
In the 1927 twister, all telephone and telegraph communication collapsed. Rescuers stumbled in the dark to pull bodies from the rubble.
In 1993, a tornado on Mother's Day split Wylie from corner to corner, damaging almost 200 homes and businesses.
Parts of Collin declared a disaster; power likely to be restored today
By ROY APPLETON, TIARA M. ELLIS and JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
WESTMINSTER, Texas – Mike Owens gripped his grandson and braced his back and feet against the laundry room wall for the coming tornado. The washer and dryer fell on top of them, the house was destroyed, and enough dirt to fill a Dixie cup packed his mouth.
Once the tornado passed, he shouted for his wife, nephew and son who had huddled under the stairs. Only two answered.
His 14-year-old son, Colson Owens, was one of three people killed after two tornadoes swept through the rolling hills and farmland in northern Collin and southern Grayson counties late Tuesday.
"We yelled for Colson, my son, and got no answer – and never did," Mr. Owens, 51, said Wednesday as neighbors hauled away debris and searched for what might be salvageable.
In the darkness, it took two hours for rescuers to find Colson's mother, Susan Owens, who was buried under the rubble of their wrecked home in Grayson County. Colson, a freshman at Van Alstyne High School, was found dead a few feet away, his father said. Flying lumber had struck him in the chest.
An elderly couple, possibly seeking shelter outside their mobile home, were also killed. Ten people were hospitalized – three flown out by air ambulance – and at least 26 homes destroyed. Injuries included a broken leg, abrasions and cuts.
The storm crumpled homes, downed power lines and toppled trees. The National Weather Service said one of the tornadoes was an F-3 on the Fujita scale, with maximum winds of 206 mph.
The bodies of Paul Harris Newsom, 82, and his wife, Mary Ellen Newsom, 80, were found in a ravine near their home, less than a mile from where Colson died. Officials were unsure whether they were taking cover or were pulled from their home.
At least two horses, two cows and a dog were killed, officials said.
Grayson County Sheriff J. Keith Gary said the tornadoes cut a swath about 200 to 300 yards wide and about eight miles long.
Some said they didn't know the tornado was coming until they heard the telltale train sound. Television reports, friends or relatives warned others. A 95-year-old Grayson County man was awakened by glass falling on his face.
Anna's emergency siren sounded twice, the first at 10:15 p.m. There are no warning devices in or around Westminster. Homes are too far apart, making sirens ineffective, Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh said.
Collin County has a system to call residents with warnings, but it was not used. Marshal Deffibaugh said there was not enough time, and the tornadoes knocked out power and telephone lines.
Police and firefighters from more than 20 cities responded. About 100 Westminster residents remained without power Wednesday afternoon. Power is expected to be restored today, Collin County spokeswoman Leigh Hornsby said.
Collin County Judge Ron Harris declared the affected parts of the county a disaster area and instituted a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The county asked that people stay away from the tornado-ravaged area.
Too early to quantify
Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, said it was too early to project insured losses.
"There are sufficient adjusters in the area to efficiently handle the number of claims, but we strongly encourage anyone who has damage to contact their insurance agent or company as soon as possible," Mr. Johns said.
Frances Fonsville and her daughter, Sharon Fonsville, both of Westminster, clung to each another as a burst of wind pulled them into their windowless garage. Then the roof collapsed – possibly the luckiest outcome.
"It was a suction that was unbelievable. It just blew us into the garage," said Sharon Fonsville, 43. "If it was not for the roof falling on us, we might have been blown out of the house."
Frances Fonsville's bedroom door blew through the house and broke in half. But the dishes in a black and gold china cabinet remained perfectly aligned.
Glass cut their bare feet. Blood stained the floor, walls and cushions. The women escaped with only stitches – five for the daughter, 25 for her mother.
About the same time, Cathy Dotson couldn't see anything but gray sky when she looked out her kitchen window near Westminster.
"It sounded like a regular thunderstorm, then it went crazy," said Ms. Dotson, 53, who huddled in a space between the bathroom and a closet with her two grandsons when the tornado hit Westminster about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. "I could actually feel my house move."
Then it was over.
"No sooner had we got there, it just stopped," she said. "No wind. No nothing. Just quiet."
A large portion of the roof from her yellow house was missing. The attic was visible from the yard. Her metal shed was gone. So was her porch swing.
'No place to be'
Westminster resident Dennis Lea's good deed may have spared his life.
Mr. Lea was warning a neighbor just minutes before a twister destroyed his rented home. When the twister roared through, he took shelter in the woman's home.
"Those trees out there were doubled over," he said. "I said, 'Man, this is no place to be.' "
Mr. Lea spent early Wednesday picking and sorting through the rubble of his 900-square-foot home that was left standing after the devastating winds.
"I must have [ticked] Mother Nature off," he said. "I'm a thrill-seeker, but this was enough for me."
Harley Roche, 83, was in bed when the twister tore through his land along County Road 480 west of Westminster.
"Things began to hit the building," Mr. Roche said. "I thought it was ice at first. ... I heard all this noise like a freight train."
Although his one-story brick home sustained only minor roof damage, both his cars were damaged and an outbuilding was flattened, leaving a Ford tractor sitting on its foundation. Winds blew the roof off his workshop, and a piece of lumber was driven through what was left of its metal walls. A giant hackberry tree near his back porch was uprooted.
Mr. Roche said he rode out the tornado with his 34-year-old grandson inside his home of 26 years, which lacks a storm cellar.
"I heard things snapping and breaking in the wind," he said. "I said a little prayer that the house didn't blow away."
American Red Cross spokeswoman Anita Foster said nearly 100 people sought refuge at Anna High School, although most left by 5 a.m. to head home or seek shelter with family or friends.
Ms. Foster said the Red Cross would have disaster teams in the community over the next few days to help those who lost loved ones or property. They also expected to counsel families with children who were terrorized by the disaster.
"It's such a sad situation what has happened here in this community – not just the physical losses but the emotional aftermath that people will go through," she said.
In downtown Westminster, Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers served food and drinks to emergency workers. And men wearing orange jumpsuits from the Collin County sheriff's inmates work program unloaded a Home Depot truck filled with donated gloves, tarps, bottled water and roofing material.
Cecil Kyle, 69, fled to shelter in a carwash after his son called to warn him. He lives about a mile northeast of where Colson died.
"I got out the back with my shirt and pants in hand, just wearing my skivvies," he said.
Mr. Kyle said he doesn't know whether he will rebuild his uninsured home, but isn't sad or bitter about his loss.
"I've been blessed all the years I've had. My luck hasn't run out."
Dallas Morning News staff writers Kimberly Durnan, Alan Melson, and Paula Lavigne and staff photographer Guy Reynolds contributed to this report.
JIM MAHONEY/Dallas Morning News
Tuesday night's tornado marked an ominous path of destruction along the ground in northeastern Collin County.
_____________________________________________________________
How to help
The North Texas Food Bank, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army provided food to storm victims. More than 2,000 pounds of food were distributed. A food collection site has been set up at Tom Thumb, 3001 Hardin Blvd. at El Dorado Parkway in McKinney. Donations of nonperishable nutritious foods such as peanut butter, beans, rice, pasta and tuna will be accepted.
_____________________________________________________________
Date of disaster
Tuesday's killer storm marked the third time that a deadly tornado struck Collin County on May 9.
In 1927, a tornado virtually destroyed the town of Nevada, killing 28 people and injuring 100. That tornado and another in 1993 touched down about 10 miles and exactly 66 years apart.
In the 1927 twister, all telephone and telegraph communication collapsed. Rescuers stumbled in the dark to pull bodies from the rubble.
In 1993, a tornado on Mother's Day split Wylie from corner to corner, damaging almost 200 homes and businesses.
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6SpeedTA95
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wxmann_91 wrote: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
MANY structures in that area were trailer homes. You can wipe a trailer home clean with a solid F2. If that was a full frame wood/brick home then I'd say yes thats F4, I doubt that it is based on the hour of vid I saw yesterday.
Everything I saw yesterday pointed to a strong F2 or F3. I watched about 50 or 55 mins of video and didn't really see anything that would lead me to believe the winds were in excess of 175. Trailers had significant or total loss damage, but every brick/wood frame home I saw in the vids had minor to moderate damage. The worst damage to a full frame house I saw was indictive of 175mph winds. The garage had been totally ripped off the house and much of the attic and roof was torn away, but interior walls appeared to be in good condition.
Now thats not to say it isn't a high end F3 but they showed roughly a dozen full frame/brick houses and most had high F1 to F2 damage. Shingles missing, windows blown out, with no major structural damage. If anyone has vids/pics of full frame house damage I'd like to see it.
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Gorky
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- Location: Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK
The problem is, the fujita scale was always intended to be a wind speed rating based on damage, with an estimated wind speed attributed to it based on that damage rating. Now it seems the surveyers are more concerned with getting the wind speed correct, and so fudge the survey results to match what they think the wind speed was. I think people should just forget the wind speed ratings completely, and change the Fujita rating to a pure damage rating... An F5 could go through 20 trailer parks and kill 1000 people and it would be rated F2 or F3 at most based on damage, as long as it didn't hit a brick house or some other damage indicator of an f4 or f5, and they only rate it at the minmum wind speed capable of that damage.
The main issue I have is damage is related to wind speed and wind duration. A slow moving or large tornado can do more damage than a fast moving small tornado, but they get the same rating if they produce the same damage, and hence the same derived wind speeds. If this Collins County tornado rating is kept as it is, being 400 yards wide and moving at 15mph or so, whilst being at the top end of f3 scale, then the Gallatin tornado, which was a narrow intense torndao, moving three times as fast (one third of the time over a structure), and similarly, swept foundations clean, must have had faster winds to compendate for its' small amount of time over the destroyed structures, but that would put it into F4 territory which it wasn't given. This sort of problem is why I believe the wind speed ratings are pointless and the F-rating should be given on damage only....
Alternatively, some sort of modification to incorporate size and speed of a tornado would be needed. A slow moving large F5, might have it's wind speed reduced and a small fast F4 might have it's wind speed increased outside of their normal F-rating boundaries. This might result in situations where the Jarrel 1997 tornado might end up as a 240mph F5, and the Pampa Tx 1995 tornado a 260mph F4, but it really wouldn't surprise me if the Pampa tornado had higher windspeeds despite lesser damage. This of course requires redefining the F-scale as purely a damage rating but I think it's more valid and gives more information than the current scale does.
Also, I'd just like to point out that while I disagree with the way the scale is being used these days, I am not completely convinced that this was a bad rating yesterday. I think in this case, looking at damage videos, they had plenty of trees to survey and they can be a good indicator of damage in intense tornados. I havn't seen any closeups of them yet, but from the air, I couldn't tell if they were damaged enough for an f4 rating. The scouring of the ground was pretty strong and would make it a borderline case in my eyes, but again I'm guessing observations on these two factors from the ground are probably what they based their final rating on rather than the state of the houses. House strengths can vary wildly, whilst trees are remarkably similar in strengths amongst the same species
{Edited to clarify some parts and add a paragraph}
The main issue I have is damage is related to wind speed and wind duration. A slow moving or large tornado can do more damage than a fast moving small tornado, but they get the same rating if they produce the same damage, and hence the same derived wind speeds. If this Collins County tornado rating is kept as it is, being 400 yards wide and moving at 15mph or so, whilst being at the top end of f3 scale, then the Gallatin tornado, which was a narrow intense torndao, moving three times as fast (one third of the time over a structure), and similarly, swept foundations clean, must have had faster winds to compendate for its' small amount of time over the destroyed structures, but that would put it into F4 territory which it wasn't given. This sort of problem is why I believe the wind speed ratings are pointless and the F-rating should be given on damage only....
Alternatively, some sort of modification to incorporate size and speed of a tornado would be needed. A slow moving large F5, might have it's wind speed reduced and a small fast F4 might have it's wind speed increased outside of their normal F-rating boundaries. This might result in situations where the Jarrel 1997 tornado might end up as a 240mph F5, and the Pampa Tx 1995 tornado a 260mph F4, but it really wouldn't surprise me if the Pampa tornado had higher windspeeds despite lesser damage. This of course requires redefining the F-scale as purely a damage rating but I think it's more valid and gives more information than the current scale does.
Also, I'd just like to point out that while I disagree with the way the scale is being used these days, I am not completely convinced that this was a bad rating yesterday. I think in this case, looking at damage videos, they had plenty of trees to survey and they can be a good indicator of damage in intense tornados. I havn't seen any closeups of them yet, but from the air, I couldn't tell if they were damaged enough for an f4 rating. The scouring of the ground was pretty strong and would make it a borderline case in my eyes, but again I'm guessing observations on these two factors from the ground are probably what they based their final rating on rather than the state of the houses. House strengths can vary wildly, whilst trees are remarkably similar in strengths amongst the same species
{Edited to clarify some parts and add a paragraph}
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TexasStooge
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Sorting out storm's destruction
Residents work to salvage what they can after deadly tornadoes
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
PILOT GROVE, Texas – Lugging wood planks that once held up his house, Mike Gordon chucked them onto an ever-growing pile next to his debris-filled swimming pool.
But he wasn't alone. Family, friends, neighbors and complete strangers stopped by Mr. Gordon's Grayson County hilltop ranch to help clean the mess left after tornadoes tore through the area Tuesday night.
"We have two Dumpsters, a backhoe, an extended boom forklift and a storage unit coming," Mr. Gordon said. "That's over $3,000 worth of equipment" being donated.
He and dozens of others on Thursday went about the task of piecing their lives back together, just days after two tornadoes slammed northern Collin and southern Grayson counties.
Power was restored to most of the devastated areas Thursday. Officials were unsure late Thursday of the conditions of the 10 people treated at area hospitals.
Eleven homes were destroyed, 12 had major damage and four saw minimal damage. About 25 homes required minor cosmetic repairs, such as missing shingles and broken windows, said Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh.
About 95 percent of those homes were insured. Damage estimates are being compiled but are expected to at least be in the million-dollar range, Marshal Deffibaugh said.
"Just looking at the values of homes and property, I would say the damage would be in the millions, probably even two or three million, or more," he said.
"Also there are the vehicles and property damage. It's easy to say in a home over several years you are going to have several thousands' worth of personal items."
The storm claimed three lives. Colson Owens, a 14-year-old Van Alstyne High School freshman, and Paul Harris Newsom, 82, and his wife, Mary Ellen Newsom, 80, were killed. The teenager and married couple died about a mile apart.
Mr. Gordon, who was in Corpus Christi with his wife, Teri, when the storm rolled in, was relieved to learn that his 18-year-old son, Billy, was not home when the tornado hit the ranch.
Billy Gordon had just come home from his first semester at Texas A&M University, dumped his boxes from school and driven to McKinney for dinner with friends.
On Thursday, he and friend Josh "Squish" Coffman, 17, cleared those boxes out of the guesthouse, where Billy stays when he's home from school. Two piles were started – one for anything worth saving, the other for trash.
The main house was destroyed, along with the guesthouse, barn and a smaller home occupied by Mr. Gordon's 95-year-old uncle, Vernon Gordon.
Mike Gordon and his wife had talked about turning the small, green guesthouse where their son stays, into a bed and breakfast. The building was mainly used as an office.
"We just about had it [the main house] just like we wanted it," Mike Gordon said. "My wife and I designed it with an Australian design with a porch that goes all the way around. This was meant to be our future."
The main house is the only one that was insured.
The Gordons received calls from five or six insurance adjustors who claimed to work for his insurance agency. None of them knew each other, he said.
"I'm not really sure who is calling me. In this age of identity theft, I'm suspicious," Mike Gordon said.
Nearby resident Cecil Kyle had no insurance on the two-story home he built in 1986. And he's not sure what he'll do.
Mr. Kyle, 69, said he chose not to insure his house because he didn't want to supplement some insurance company. He gambled and lost. But he's not sweating the future.
"I'm fine. I'll do something," he said. "Take the stuff away, and I'll start over."
Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Services, said he hoped that those who chose not to insure their homes had a financial reserve to pay for the damage. If not, they'll likely have to borrow money to rebuild, he said.
Mike Gordon and his wife will rebuild. They figure the best approach is to start with the barn, so they can keep their ranch running. They own cattle and horses. Then they'll slowly put their house back together.
In the meantime, the Gordons plan to live in an RV on their land.
Piece by piece, they'll save what they can from the house. The central heat and air-conditioning unit at the guesthouse, the Mexican tile throughout the main house, a stainless steel refrigerator and oven range, and kitchen cabinets are all being pulled out.
"For everything we can salvage, that's one less thing we have to buy later," Mike Gordon said.
Residents work to salvage what they can after deadly tornadoes
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News
PILOT GROVE, Texas – Lugging wood planks that once held up his house, Mike Gordon chucked them onto an ever-growing pile next to his debris-filled swimming pool.
But he wasn't alone. Family, friends, neighbors and complete strangers stopped by Mr. Gordon's Grayson County hilltop ranch to help clean the mess left after tornadoes tore through the area Tuesday night.
"We have two Dumpsters, a backhoe, an extended boom forklift and a storage unit coming," Mr. Gordon said. "That's over $3,000 worth of equipment" being donated.
He and dozens of others on Thursday went about the task of piecing their lives back together, just days after two tornadoes slammed northern Collin and southern Grayson counties.
Power was restored to most of the devastated areas Thursday. Officials were unsure late Thursday of the conditions of the 10 people treated at area hospitals.
Eleven homes were destroyed, 12 had major damage and four saw minimal damage. About 25 homes required minor cosmetic repairs, such as missing shingles and broken windows, said Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh.
About 95 percent of those homes were insured. Damage estimates are being compiled but are expected to at least be in the million-dollar range, Marshal Deffibaugh said.
"Just looking at the values of homes and property, I would say the damage would be in the millions, probably even two or three million, or more," he said.
"Also there are the vehicles and property damage. It's easy to say in a home over several years you are going to have several thousands' worth of personal items."
The storm claimed three lives. Colson Owens, a 14-year-old Van Alstyne High School freshman, and Paul Harris Newsom, 82, and his wife, Mary Ellen Newsom, 80, were killed. The teenager and married couple died about a mile apart.
Mr. Gordon, who was in Corpus Christi with his wife, Teri, when the storm rolled in, was relieved to learn that his 18-year-old son, Billy, was not home when the tornado hit the ranch.
Billy Gordon had just come home from his first semester at Texas A&M University, dumped his boxes from school and driven to McKinney for dinner with friends.
On Thursday, he and friend Josh "Squish" Coffman, 17, cleared those boxes out of the guesthouse, where Billy stays when he's home from school. Two piles were started – one for anything worth saving, the other for trash.
The main house was destroyed, along with the guesthouse, barn and a smaller home occupied by Mr. Gordon's 95-year-old uncle, Vernon Gordon.
Mike Gordon and his wife had talked about turning the small, green guesthouse where their son stays, into a bed and breakfast. The building was mainly used as an office.
"We just about had it [the main house] just like we wanted it," Mike Gordon said. "My wife and I designed it with an Australian design with a porch that goes all the way around. This was meant to be our future."
The main house is the only one that was insured.
The Gordons received calls from five or six insurance adjustors who claimed to work for his insurance agency. None of them knew each other, he said.
"I'm not really sure who is calling me. In this age of identity theft, I'm suspicious," Mike Gordon said.
Nearby resident Cecil Kyle had no insurance on the two-story home he built in 1986. And he's not sure what he'll do.
Mr. Kyle, 69, said he chose not to insure his house because he didn't want to supplement some insurance company. He gambled and lost. But he's not sweating the future.
"I'm fine. I'll do something," he said. "Take the stuff away, and I'll start over."
Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Services, said he hoped that those who chose not to insure their homes had a financial reserve to pay for the damage. If not, they'll likely have to borrow money to rebuild, he said.
Mike Gordon and his wife will rebuild. They figure the best approach is to start with the barn, so they can keep their ranch running. They own cattle and horses. Then they'll slowly put their house back together.
In the meantime, the Gordons plan to live in an RV on their land.
Piece by piece, they'll save what they can from the house. The central heat and air-conditioning unit at the guesthouse, the Mexican tile throughout the main house, a stainless steel refrigerator and oven range, and kitchen cabinets are all being pulled out.
"For everything we can salvage, that's one less thing we have to buy later," Mike Gordon said.
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6SpeedTA95
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TexasStooge
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Residents taking steps before next tornado looms
Options range from weather-alert radios to pricey safe rooms
By MIKE JACKSON / The Dallas Morning News
The next time a tornado threatens North Texas, Mike Gordon says he'll be prepared.
Mr. Gordon plans to soon hire a company to install a vaultlike safe room in his house – a place where he and his family would hide safely from the storm.
"With all that debris flying around, you could be impaled," said Mr. Gordon, whose Grayson County house was reduced to piles of splintered wood and debris in last week's storm.
Tuesday's tornadoes which killed three people, left dozens of homes in Collin and Grayson counties destroyed or damaged. And as families begin to rebuild, some residents and public officials are wondering how they can help themselves and others safely ride out the next nasty storm.
Some like Mr. Gordon may consider safe rooms that run several thousands of dollars. Others might opt for weather-alert radios, a much cheaper option that could warn families in time to get out of a tornado's path or head for shelter. Anna officials, by coincidence, decided several days before the storm to install three new outdoor alert sirens for $75,000.
"Right now, people are going to look at storms a lot differently than they used to," said Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh.
Marshal Deffibaugh said the most practical thing everyone can do is buy a weather-alert radio.
They sound alarms in the event of a storm and give instructions from the National Weather Service. They're more reliable than television reports, which would black out if communities lose power.
"That thing is a loud alert," Marshal Deffibaugh said. "It will sit you straight up in bed."
The radios, with backup batteries, range in price from $20 to over $100, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the emergency signals. They can be purchased at electronics stores.
Anna officials said they've now got two top priorities: quickly install the outdoor sirens and get residents to sign up for the town's "code red" warning system, said Town Administrator Lee Lawrence.
The code red system works by automatically dialing residents' homes with a warning about an impending tornado, Mr. Lawrence said. Anna, which sustained no damage last week, activated the system. The trouble was, only 1,450 of the town's 7,000 residents have registered for the free system.
"Until this point, we haven't been able to get people to take this seriously," he said.
Town officials said builders can't be forced to put up houses strong enough to withstand tornadoes because it would cost too much.
Melissa's town administrator, Douglas Box, said damage caused by some of Texas' tornadoes could hardly be prevented by tougher building codes.
The tornadoes "just cleared the slabs, pulled the plumbing right out of them, so I'm not sure you could totally build against it," Mr. Box said
Given that North Texas' shifting soil conditions make basements impractical, the best way to protect a family from a tornado might be a safe room, officials said. They're made of steel and are bolted into foundations.
Companies that install them say they'd be the only thing left standing after a direct hit. But they're expensive. They cost $4,000 to $10,000, depending on their features. They're typically 24 to 48 square feet and stand 6 feet tall. They can be installed in garages or built into a new home as a closet.
"I've got about 20 messages and an equal amount or more of e-mails from people wanting information about them," said Russell Mims, a Rockwall-based distributor of FamilySafe safe rooms.
Mr. Mims said his business typically spikes after tornadoes hit. He expects about half of his callers to actively pursue a safe room.
"It's really just a matter of what they can afford," Mr. Mims said. "That's what it usually boils down to. If they can afford it, they buy it."
Public safety and town officials agree that the safe rooms may be the best way to go. But they say most people are likely to be put off by the cost.
Marshal Deffibaugh said people may opt for the cheaper options, such as the weather-alert radios.
"Storm cellars? What's the cost?" he said. "What are the chances of you ever having to use it?"
Staff writer Tiara Ellis contributed to this story.
Options range from weather-alert radios to pricey safe rooms
By MIKE JACKSON / The Dallas Morning News
The next time a tornado threatens North Texas, Mike Gordon says he'll be prepared.
Mr. Gordon plans to soon hire a company to install a vaultlike safe room in his house – a place where he and his family would hide safely from the storm.
"With all that debris flying around, you could be impaled," said Mr. Gordon, whose Grayson County house was reduced to piles of splintered wood and debris in last week's storm.
Tuesday's tornadoes which killed three people, left dozens of homes in Collin and Grayson counties destroyed or damaged. And as families begin to rebuild, some residents and public officials are wondering how they can help themselves and others safely ride out the next nasty storm.
Some like Mr. Gordon may consider safe rooms that run several thousands of dollars. Others might opt for weather-alert radios, a much cheaper option that could warn families in time to get out of a tornado's path or head for shelter. Anna officials, by coincidence, decided several days before the storm to install three new outdoor alert sirens for $75,000.
"Right now, people are going to look at storms a lot differently than they used to," said Collin County Fire Marshal Steve Deffibaugh.
Marshal Deffibaugh said the most practical thing everyone can do is buy a weather-alert radio.
They sound alarms in the event of a storm and give instructions from the National Weather Service. They're more reliable than television reports, which would black out if communities lose power.
"That thing is a loud alert," Marshal Deffibaugh said. "It will sit you straight up in bed."
The radios, with backup batteries, range in price from $20 to over $100, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the emergency signals. They can be purchased at electronics stores.
Anna officials said they've now got two top priorities: quickly install the outdoor sirens and get residents to sign up for the town's "code red" warning system, said Town Administrator Lee Lawrence.
The code red system works by automatically dialing residents' homes with a warning about an impending tornado, Mr. Lawrence said. Anna, which sustained no damage last week, activated the system. The trouble was, only 1,450 of the town's 7,000 residents have registered for the free system.
"Until this point, we haven't been able to get people to take this seriously," he said.
Town officials said builders can't be forced to put up houses strong enough to withstand tornadoes because it would cost too much.
Melissa's town administrator, Douglas Box, said damage caused by some of Texas' tornadoes could hardly be prevented by tougher building codes.
The tornadoes "just cleared the slabs, pulled the plumbing right out of them, so I'm not sure you could totally build against it," Mr. Box said
Given that North Texas' shifting soil conditions make basements impractical, the best way to protect a family from a tornado might be a safe room, officials said. They're made of steel and are bolted into foundations.
Companies that install them say they'd be the only thing left standing after a direct hit. But they're expensive. They cost $4,000 to $10,000, depending on their features. They're typically 24 to 48 square feet and stand 6 feet tall. They can be installed in garages or built into a new home as a closet.
"I've got about 20 messages and an equal amount or more of e-mails from people wanting information about them," said Russell Mims, a Rockwall-based distributor of FamilySafe safe rooms.
Mr. Mims said his business typically spikes after tornadoes hit. He expects about half of his callers to actively pursue a safe room.
"It's really just a matter of what they can afford," Mr. Mims said. "That's what it usually boils down to. If they can afford it, they buy it."
Public safety and town officials agree that the safe rooms may be the best way to go. But they say most people are likely to be put off by the cost.
Marshal Deffibaugh said people may opt for the cheaper options, such as the weather-alert radios.
"Storm cellars? What's the cost?" he said. "What are the chances of you ever having to use it?"
Staff writer Tiara Ellis contributed to this story.
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TexasStooge
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Crews work to restore power after storms
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
TXU Electric Delivery crews were working Sunday morning to restore power to thousands of North Texas residents who lost power during overnight storms.
About 1,000 businesses and residences in the Fort Worth area, 600 in southern Dallas County and 500 in Arlington were without power at about 11 a.m. Sunday.
“Apparently we did have lines down and trees tangled in lines and that does take longer to restore,” said Carol Peters, a spokeswoman for TXU delivery.
Ms. Peters said all available crews were working Sunday to solve the problems. More than 25,000 homes and businesses across the region were without power for a brief period early Sunday during the storm.
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
TXU Electric Delivery crews were working Sunday morning to restore power to thousands of North Texas residents who lost power during overnight storms.
About 1,000 businesses and residences in the Fort Worth area, 600 in southern Dallas County and 500 in Arlington were without power at about 11 a.m. Sunday.
“Apparently we did have lines down and trees tangled in lines and that does take longer to restore,” said Carol Peters, a spokeswoman for TXU delivery.
Ms. Peters said all available crews were working Sunday to solve the problems. More than 25,000 homes and businesses across the region were without power for a brief period early Sunday during the storm.
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