A line of severe storms destroyed buildings, overturned RVs and flipped 18-wheelers in Denton and Cooke counties late Saturday and early Sunday morning. At least seven people were killed, and at least 100 people were injured, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

An estimated 60 to 80 people were injured when the storm destroyed the AP Travel Center, where a Shell gas station and restaurants were located at the intersection of I-35 and Lone Oak Road, Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington said during a news conference at the scene, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported. Many of the injured had tried to seek cover inside the gas station or in its parking lot, he said.

Two children, ages 2 and 5, were among the dead, the sheriff told the Associated Press. Most of the deaths were reported at FRF Estates, a mobile home park, where crews continued search-and-rescue early Sunday morning.

More than 200 structures were destroyed and 120 damaged, said Abbott, speaking at a Sunday evening press conference near the Shell travel center. He said he would be shocked if the numbers didn’t increase when further assessments are made.

Neighbor describes effort to save woman, children

Three of the victims were identified Laura Esparza and her children 15-year-old Miranda and 9-year-old Marco Esparza, according to a neighbor and a GoFundMe that has been established to help pay for the funeral costs.

Jose Narango, 47, was sheltering with 12 family members in his mother’s kitchen when the tornado hit their mobile home park. He lives across the street from the Esparza family on Green Meadow Drive.

He said he heard screaming and found Cuco Esparza trapped between two cars and writhing in pain. He was screaming, looking for his wife, Narango said.

The cars had been blown across the street into Narango’s brother’s front yard, Narango said, speaking through his daughter Guadalupe, 22, as a translator.

Narango and others used the flashlights on their phone to search for the family. Daughter Miranda was already dead when they found her, he said, and son Marco was pinned underneath a truck. They found mother Laura sitting inside her gold SUV. She was also dead.

Narango’s hands were shaking. He said he’d never get the images out of his head.

Community has stepped up

Beate Hall has been at Valley View United Methodist Church since Saturday night. Hall, the pastor, said people began showing up to the church to bring supplies and help before midnight. The first people hit by the tornado showed up around 2 a.m.

The church is the overflow for the community center in Valley View. Hall hasn’t slept yet because she wants to be available for anybody who shows up needing help, and the supplies just haven’t stopped coming.

Hall said the community, not just in Valley View but across the region, has stepped up. One man showed up with 360 cases of water, overflowing from the beds to two pickups. A couple from Justin showed up to donate cash.

When she takes a moment to leave the fellowship hall, where supplies are being organized and handed out, and step into her office, the phone rings. Somebody calling to see if she can help.

“We’re telling people to go to the community center first and then, if they tell you they’re full up, come here,” she tells the caller.

Hall spent her time overnight welcoming people to the church, pouring cups of coffee for people who came to wait there and watching “Toy Story” with the kids three times. The Methodist church was the awake spot, while another church set up cots to be the sleep spot.

As the supplies keep flowing in, Hall says the basic needs have been, for the most part, met. They won’t turn away any donations, but Hall said what she expects is needed most are people ready to step up and help rebuild homes and refurnish them, when the time comes.

Shelter at Shell travel center

Hugo Parra from Farmers Branch was traveling with his family to Oklahoma and stopped at the Shell travel center on Lone Oak Road when they heard about the severe weather.

Parra said he thought they’d be waiting there for 20 minutes, but as the weather got worse they headed inside, where there were about 40 to 50 people, he said. Some people were trying to shelter in the restaurant but Parra told people to get into the bathroom.

He said pretty much everyone inside was safe. He said it was like the area got hit by a bomb. Firefighters told him he was lucky to be alive, he said.

On Sunday afternoon, Fernando Cristan walked up and down around what used to be Distinguished Customs, a restoration and modification shop. Now it’s a pile of rubble and classic cars behind the Shell travel center.

Cristan was working on two Corvettes there. He points them out, one black and one a faded yellow.

“Those are two ‘63 Corvettes I was working on,” he says. “They were being restored and modified. They would have been worth half a million each.”

‘Eerily quiet’

Five members of the Garcia family at 8 Fielding Drive in Valley View rushed into their storm shelter about 10 minutes before the tornado hit.

Looking out an air hole in the roughly 6- by 12-foot cinder block shelter inside a sheet metal garage, son Francisco, 24, said he could see debris blowing in the wind.

The family lost two horses and two outdoor cats are missing. Patriarch Jorge Garcia, 50, is a roofer and was busy with members of his extended family putting plywood on their homes.

Jorge said as long as his family is OK, he’s OK.

The family has lived in the house for 11 years and has never seen anything like this. You see it happening in other places, but you never think it will happen to you, Francisco said.

David Reed of Mansfield got up to Valley View as soon as he could to check on his daughter, who lives in the area with her boyfriend, Francisco.

Francisco said it got eerily quiet moments before the tornado hit. “And then just out of nowhere it started wailing,” he said.

Path of storm’s destruction

The Denton County Office of Emergency Management confirmed a tornado crossed Interstate 35 between Sanger and Valley View, about 50 miles north of Fort Worth, the Denton Record Chronicle reported. Major damage was reported in Valley View, Sanger and into Collin County.

The National Weather Service dispatched several teams to Montague, Cooke, Denton, and Collin counties to evaluate the storm’s path and the damage it wrought.

Ray Roberts State Park was packed with holiday campers but were no significant injures, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reported. Several trees were down and the park will remain closed until power is restored, the Parks Department said.

The Denton Fire Department said it was sending medics and rescue crews to Marina Circle at Lake Ray Roberts, where there were multiple victims, some of them reportedly trapped. Three people were taken to the hospital; two were released and one was in serious condition, authorities said.

“Right now as the sun comes up, we will begin assessing the damage. We know the boat houses are heavily damaged, all have lost walkways and most boats are damaged,” a Facebook post from the marina reads. “We lost our fuel dock and offices along with our dock cat, Ginger. Our hearts are broken but we were watched over by our Lord and Savior last night. We are blessed and very thankful today. Prayers for those who weren’t as fortunate as us.”

Amber Bryan, 41, had lived in the RV park for a year. The tornado flipped her trailer and pinned her inside.

“Thank God, just got some bruises, nothing broken,” she said.

She used her key fob to honk SOS to let people know she was in the rubble.

“Everything happened so fast,” she said. “I just said, ‘Lord wrap your arms around me and my pets and get us through this.”

Injuries also were confirmed in Denton County, with an unknown number of patients transported to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter, county officials said about 5 a.m. in a statement on social media. “The number of people injured and the types of injuries are not known at this time as the incident is still a working scene,” the statement read.

A tornado warning was issued for Cooke County at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday as a line of severe storms moved across southern Cooke and northern Denton counties. At 10:40 p.m. the National Weather Service in Fort Worth reported a tornado was observed on spotter video at Interstate 35 and East Lone Oak Road.

Traffic was stopped on I-35 for several hours because of overturned 18-wheelers and downed power lines, Denton County officials said in a statement on social media.

Power outages, uprooted trees, and downed limbs were reported from west of Sanger across the lake into Pilot Point, Denton County reported. Downed power lines also closed several roads, including FM 455 in Sanger.

At about 5 a.m., CoServ reported power outages affecting over 1,200 customers west of Sanger to Pilot Point. Texas-New Mexico Power reported over 1,100 customers without power, mainly in Pilot Point. Oncor reported outages for an estimated 585 customers in the Celina area in Denton County.

Collin County Judge Chris Hill declared a state of disaster Sunday afternoon, citing “extensive” tornado damage in Celina. City residents and officials reported ripped-up houses and snapped power lines.

Major damage, at least 7 dead, 100 injured in Denton & Cooke counties after tornado

Storm Reports

This map contains continuously updated storm reports and damage from the National Weather Service for the past 48 hours. Reports include tornado, wind storm and hail storm reports. The map also includes tornado reports for the past week and recent rainfall accumulations. Sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Esri.

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Steve Wilson swilson@star-telegram.com

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