At least 7 dead, dozens injured in reported tornado outbreak in North Texas


At least 7 people are dead, including at least two children, and dozens are injured after reported tornadoes in Cooke, Collin and Denton counties on Saturday night.

Officials fear those numbers may go up.

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The NWS will be survey last night’s damage throughout the day on Sunday. The survey will give us details of how strong the tornadoes were along with the track.

More than 49,000 customers were still without power at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to Oncor.

Cooke County

The hardest hit area from last night’s tornado outbreak appears to be Valley View in Cooke County.

Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington says at least 7 people were killed.

Around 9 a.m., the sheriff confirmed they had found the bodies of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old on Sunday morning.

Texas Task Force One Search and Rescue was brought in to help search for victims in homes and businesses.

The Cooke County Sheriff says a reported tornado hit a mobile home park and a Shell Station Travel Center.

“This took a major hit. There is not much left of it,” said Sappington.

Two people who were killed were found in a mobile home park.

“Power lines were down, trees were down, it’s taken a huge effort to just get back in there where most of the damage is,” said Sappington.

He says dozens of people at the travel center along I-35 all survived.

The sheriff says those from the Shell station were bused to a QuikTrip gas station in Gainesville that is being used as a reunification center. 

A Red Cross shelter has been set up at the First Baptist Church community center on North Lee Street in Valley View.

Denton County

The storm crossed Ray Roberts Lake, about 10 miles north of Denton.

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Lake Ray Roberts Marina and RVs in Sanger were hit, tearing up the docks and sinking a number of boats.

Many of those that weren’t sunk are damaged.

Denton County says a number of people with injuries were taken to hospitals via ambulance and CareFlite. 

The total number of injuries is not known at this time.

Collin County

Celina, on the border of Denton and Collin Counties, was also hit hard.

First responders say there were at least 10 to 15 homes severely damaged or destroyed.

We talked with Kim Weston, a resident on Prairie Meadow Lane, who came home after the storm to find her home destroyed.

Her mother, who also lives in the neighborhood was home at the time.

“We have heard that everyone on the street is ok and unfortunately our house was a total loss, but you know we’re grateful that we’re ok,” said Kim Weston. “It was a godsend we weren’t home. the neighbor across the street had an RV and it landed on our house the only part that’s standing is where we would have been sheltered.”

Weston said her mother was trapped inside the house for a time, but was eventually rescued.

Collin County says there is a lot of debris across the area on Sunday morning and its public works team is out assessing the damage.



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