North Texas Hit Hard By Deadly Tornadoes
A line of deadly thunderstorms struck North Texas late on Wednesday, dropping giant hailstones and a series of tornadoes that leveled whole subdivisions. Six people were killed and as many as 14 were still missing as of Thursday morning.
RELATED: Town in Indiana 'Completely Gone' After Tornado
The hardest hit town was Granbury, Texas, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth, where police reported multiple casualties and widespread damage. In nearby Cleburne, Mayor Scott Cain siad there were hundreds of homes that received some kind of damage, with about two dozen being completely destroyed. (Photo: WFAA.com)
RELATED: A Tornado Touches Down in New York City
The full extent of the destruction won't really be known until the sun comes up and rescuers can complete their search. A "urban rescue" team is being sent to the area to conduct house-to-house searches in the hopes of finding survivors who might be trapped in the debris.
RELATED: More Tornadoes 'Likely' Today in Deadliest Season Since 1953
A few residents managed to catch some dramatic videos of the twisters—this one touching down near Lake Granbury. Be sure to listen with the sound to get a sense of the storm's power.
RELATED: The Real Costs of Debt Brinkmanship
RELATED: Two Dallas County Tornadoes Have Already Caused Damage
Photo: AP
Tornado on the ground SE of Granbury.LIVE COVERAGE NOW on WFAA ! -sm twitter.com/wfaaweathertoo…
— WFAA-TV Weather (@wfaaweathertoo) May 16, 2013
The storm also produced massive, snowball-sized hail stones that only added to the damage.
Mineral wells, tx twitter.com/CoopWay/status…
— way coop (@CoopWay) May 15, 2013
I've been producing at The Weather Channel almost 4 years and I've never seen #hail like this before. Insane.twitter.com/jebetz/status/…
— Shawn Reynolds (@WCL_Shawn) May 16, 2013
Here's another spotting video of the funnel cloud and a map of the area that was hit. WFAA.com and the Dallas Morning News have more video and photos at their websites as well.
