National Weather Service Confirms 5 More Tornados Hit North Texas Sunday Night, 9 Total
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) — The National Weather Service has confirmed that five more tornados hit North Texas Sunday night, bringing the total up to nine.
In a tweet shared Tuesday, the NWS said a survey team has determined two brief tornadoes occurred in Ellis County Oct. 20 — One near Midlothian rated an EF-1 with 100 mph winds and the one in Ferris rated an EF-0 with winds up to 85 mph.
Survey teams were also able to confirm hours later that an EF-2 tornado occurred on the southwestern side of Garland, with estimated max winds of 135 mph. An additional two tornados were also confirmed in Kaufman County.
4:25 PM - A National Weather Service survey team has determined 2 brief tornadoes occurred in Ellis County Sunday evening. One near Midlothian - rated EF-1 with 100 mph winds. The other was in Ferris - rated EF-0 with winds up to 85 mph. More info to come. #dfwwx #txwx pic.twitter.com/igDAvMcKmZ
— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) October 22, 2019
The tornado in Ferris crumpled and rotated a large grain silo near downtown, and it damaged homes and businesses in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Many residents are still without power.
"All of a sudden we see chairs come from the other block, come around the corner and start tumbling to the west," said Jay Walsh, who was watching the Cowboys game at a downtown restaurant when the tornado hit.
He says when those chairs went airborne in the other direction, he knew it was time to take shelter.
"I mean, it felt like a tornado," Walsh said. "It was a different sound. There was a roar to it."
Still, people in Ferris are grateful. They've seen powerful storms before, and no one was hurt in this one.
"It wasn't as bad as I expected or as it could have been," said one resident. "We were really lucky."
It was also confirmed Tuesday that Rockwall was hit by an EF-1 tornado Sunday night, when an EF-3 tornado hit Dallas, an EF-1 hit Rowlett and an EF-0 struck Wills Point.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a thread of tweets Tuesday that the overnight shelter at Bachman Recreation Center will close, but it will continue to act as a respite center. It will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
As for damage, Johnson said 153 structures were affected with minimal damage, 344 with minor damage, 286 with major damage and 104 that are completely destroyed.
The city of Dallas is also down to 105 traffic signals without communications, and Atmos has 363 meters pending repairs.
Early reports indicated at least six people were taken to the hospital — each being treated for storm related injuries. No deaths have been reported, but residents all over North Texas have had to leave their homes due to damage.