Six Dead, Seven Missing, In Deadliest U.S. Tornado Outbreak This Year

[ChannelsTV]

Six people were dead and seven missing on Thursday (May 16) after a powerful tornado ripped through a neighborhood that included housing for the poor in the north Texas town of Granbury, marking the deadliest severe storm outbreak in the United States so far this year. Authorities were assessing damage and searching through rubble on Thursday afternoon, hoping to find survivors among the twisted metal and splintered wood of flattened homes. The tornado, which brought winds of 166-200 miles (267-321 kilometers) per hour, was rated an EF4 by the National Weather Service (NWS), said NWS meteorologist Mark Wiley. EF4 tornadoes are rare and can blow away a well constructed wood or brick home, according to weather service ratings. "I knew it had to be a really bad one and when they confirmed an F4 this morning it didn't surprise me because of what I've seen with the trees, the vegetation, the homes, it was bad," said Sheriff Roger Deeds in Hood County where Granbury is located. "I've seen some bad things in my day so I knew this was going to be one of the worst I've ever seen, and it was," he said. Granbury, a town of 8,000 people about 35 miles southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, took the hardest hit from a swarm of tornados that struck north Texas late Wednesday. Officials from the small town counted six people dead and seven more missing, with at least 45 others injured. Most of the victims came from the Rancho Brazos subdivision of approximately 110 mostly single-family homes. The area hit included 61 homes built by Habitat for Humanity, the charity that uses volunteers to build and repair homes for low-income residents, according to its website. In nearby Parker County, about 14 homes and farms had severe roof damage and other structural damage and a few buildings were destroyed, said Parker County Judge Mark Riley. No injuries or deaths were reported. Preliminary reports showed that the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Granbury 26 minutes before the twister struck, according to Wiley. That is an unusually long lead time as the average warning time is 10 to 12 minutes, Riley said. Until Wednesday, the tornado season had been unusually mild so far in 2013 after two years of intense activity. Only three people have died in tornadoes so far in 2013, according to weather service statistics. More stormy weather is expected later on Thursday in northeast Texas, southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana, but not in the area of Texas hit by tornadoes on Wednesday, the weather service said.

Via: ChannelsTV