TEXOMA — The National Weather Service reports two tornadoes touched down Tuesday night in Grayson County, injuring five people and damaging businesses and homes, officials said Wednesday. Communities in Oklahoma also suffered storm damage. No deaths have been reported.
The Howe and Whitesboro tornadoes are listed as an EF-1 (95-100 MPH wind speeds) and the Bells tornado was listed as an EF-0 (80-85 MPH).
The tornadoes are rated on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which is a scale used by the National Weather Service to measure wind speed and damage.
Howe
Howe Police said at least 20 homes were damaged or destroyed near stark Lane.
Police Chief Carl Hudman says five people were injured, one critically, when vehicles they were in were caught up in a tornado that hit on Tuesday around 10 p.m. The tornado came across FM 902 and U.S. Highway 75.
Howe resident Phillip Farris said, “Mostly I lost my shop. I suffered light damage to the house. My brother’s shop imploded so its gone, and a couple of neighbors houses look totaled. We were blessed that the storm was 50 feet closer to the fence..could of been a lot worse.”
Whitesboro /Bells
In just a few short moments, the strong winds from Tuesday night’s storms stripped the roof from a medical practice in Whitesboro.
And that wasn’t the only building affected. “There were apartments or duplexes behind here that have structural damage, roof damage,” Grayson County Fire Marshal Kevin Walton said.
City officials are thankful that most of the damage was contained to only a few blocks on the west side of town.
The city of Bells is recovering as well.
Trees and power lines fell, homes and businesses were damaged, and several residents woke up without power.
While many suspect tornadoes are the cause for the damage, it’s still unsure whether or not any actually touched down.
“We’ll have to wait til in the morning til they can assess it to see if it was a tornado or straight line winds,” Walton said.
Grayson County Office of Emergency Management Director Sarah Somers reports at least one other person in a home was injured.
“Last night (Tuesday) our County experienced at least one tornado, possibly two. Crews are working to remove debris from roadways, assess damage and make sure everyone who needs a place to stay tonight because of major damage to their home gets help. The cities of Bells, Howe and Whitesboro seem hardest hit — as well as the unincorporated areas surrounding them,” Somers said.
Howe ISD canceled classes Wednesday due to damages sustained to campus buildings. Collinsville ISD and Denison High School (only) also closed Wednesday due to a power outage.
Oncor’s website reports about 4,600 people in Grayson County remain without power, but they expect to restore power on Wednesday.
Grayson County Electric Cooperative CEO David McGinnis said they have restored power to about 12,000 of the 14,000 customers who were without power. He estimated about 1,900 remain without power, mostly in a diagonal stretch from Farmington to Bells. He expects to have power restored to them by sundown.
McGinnis said they will have to replace about 30 poles broken in the storm to finish restoring power.
Somers said her office and the National Weather Service will be assessing damages Wednesday morning to help determine what type of storm hit Grayson County.
Murray County Okla.
In Oklahoma some storm damage has been reported, most notably in Davis where the police chief tells us a church’s roof collapsed, a business building was blown over, and winds blew an RV off the road.
The First United Methodist Church in Davis is a total loss according to its pastor, and Davis schools are out Wednesday because there is no electricity. “This may sound crazy, but we were in the middle of a building project here and it seems that God had a better plan for our project,” Pastor Steve Harshaw said. “We are going to maintain a positive attitude that God has got this, and were going to trust God to take care of it.”
Pontotoc County, Okla.
In Byng, at least two houses were destroyed on County Road 1450 on U.S. Highway 377 North.
Jessica Ward owns one of the houses that was destroyed.
Ward said she and her husband had just finished the house a couple months ago. “We had worked on this house for so long,” she said. “And it’s just sad to see it gone. Me and my husband worked on it by ourselves.”
OG&E is reporting power outages in Murray, Johnston, and Pontotoc counties for around 1,100 people, and power should be restored sometime Wednesday.
By: Sara Humphrey, Marissa Budzynski, Brittany Harlow & Amy Jenson
