Missing rooftops, injuries, downed trees reported after five tornadoes hit North Texas
Residents in the southern part of North Texas awoke on Tuesday morning to roof damage, fields of debris and downed trees and power lines following a night of severe storms and tornadoes.
Two confirmed tornadoes swept through Blum and Ellis County, near Waxahachie and Forreston, on Monday evening, bringing with them winds up to 130 miles per hour and large hail, according to Juan Hernandez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Brief tornadoes also were reported in Hood, Johnson and Collin counties.
An estimated 25 to 50 homes and buildings in Ellis County were damaged by the Monday storms, according to KRLD 1080. Five people in homes and three people in vehicles were injured, but no fatalities were reported. The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office said damage was in the area of FM55 to Highway 77 and past I-35E.
Aerial videos showed that several houses lost sections of their roofs and scores of trees were knocked over, Hernandez said.
Live video from a KXAS-TV helicopter on Tuesday morning additionally showed homes with entire roofs missing — exposing their wood frames and pink insulation — as well as overturned mobile homes.
Teams from the weather service were out in the field inspecting the damage from the tornadoes Tuesday.
A survey team confirmed an EF-2 tornado with winds up to 120 mph occurred in Ellis County from 8:44 to 8:57 p.m. Monday. It tracked 5.2 miles through the area between Waxahachie and Forreston, where it crossed I-35E.
The weather service confirmed an EF-2 tornado with winds up to 130 mph occurred northwest of the town of Blum in far northwestern Hill County around 7:25 p.m. Monday.
Tom Hemrick, Hill County Emergency Management coordinator, says the EF-2 tornado destroyed a home and caused heavy damage to the adjacent Barn on the Brazos, a wedding venue, in the county at 533 Hill County Road 1114. It’s near the Johnson County line.
Hemrick said no other damage reported in Hill County from Monday’s storms.
An EF-0 tornado was confirmed to have touched down about 6 p.m. in the eastern part of Granbury in Hood County, causing damage to a drive-in movie theater and a church. An EF-0 tornado has wind speeds between 65-85 mph.
Based on radar and spotter videos, the weather service also confirmed a brief EF-0 tornado occurred around 8 p.m. in far southeastern Johnson County just east of Grandview. No significant damage was reported with that tornado.
Another EF-0 tornado was confirmed in northern Collin County, south of Weston, at 7:41 p.m. It was on the ground for two minutes and caused minor damage to trees and powerlines.
The severe weather on Monday evening also led to a massive crash in Waxahachie, on I-35 near Johnson Road, involving three 18-wheelers, two vans and a truck, officials told WFAA-TV, a Star-Telegram media partner. Photos from the scene showed the 18-wheelers flipped over in the road. Three people were injured, one of them seriously.
Storms began developing west of I-35 around 5 p.m. on Monday, in areas like Weatherford and Glen Rose, and moved to the east, Hernandez said.
The Brazos Drive-in Theatre in Granbury posted photos of significant storm damage on Monday evening, showing bent exit signs and twisted metal spread out in the field. The caption reads, “Closed until further notice.” Offers to help with cleanup poured in from members of the community on Facebook.
Also in Granbury, the roof was ripped off Crossing Place Church on Highway 377, according to WFAA. Emergency officials reported no one was inside the church and there were no injuries.
Along with the destructive winds, there were several reports of hail that was 2 inches in diameter, and one report of a hail stone 3 inches in diameter in Johnson County, Hernandez said.
The storms encountered the right conditions on Monday for tornadoes, including an incoming cold front — creating moisture in the air — and warmer, muggier temperatures.
“If you think about it like a boiling pot of water, you really need the heat to get the water boiling,” Hernandez said. “It’s the same concept in the atmosphere — the hotter it is, you may have increased conditions or increased probability of more severe storms.”
It was expected to be cooler on Tuesday on the heels of the cold front, with a high near 71. It’s expected to be cloudy, with no chance of showers or thunderstorms.
The weather service forecast shows rain and thunderstorms aren’t expected again until at least Sunday night. Rain and storm chances will increase early next week, especially Monday and Tuesday, but it’s not know yet if there will be severe weather.
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 8:15 AM.
