Deadly tornado destroys North Texas community: "I was holding the door real tight, I said, 'This is the end for me.'"
VALLEY VIEW — Neighbors on Green Meadow Drive said they formed an instant rescue party after hearing screams during a tornado.
"While he was walking by, he just heard screaming, screaming and screaming. And he went to where he heard the screaming from," Guadalupe Naranjo said.
Her father, Jose Naranjo, was part of an emergency group that formed an emergency operation to save Laura Esparza, daughter Miranda and son Marco.
Jose Naranjo said he kept screaming, especially after finding the little girl. He wasn't alone, she said. The girl's father was present, too. His losses kept piling up.
"And he found his wife and his son deceased," Guadalupe Naranjo said.
Cooke County Sheriff told CBS News Texas seven people died due to the storm. The victims' identities have not all been released. The sheriff said four adults, one child and two children missing. Governor Greg Abbott said in a news conference Sunday all victims had been recovered.
Harrowing stories of survival also happened on Green Meadow Drive. Yolanda Vasquez said when the storm got scary, she started praying. She even held onto a doorknob inside of her home lifting up prayers of protection for herself and her daughter who lives next door.
"I thought I was going be dead, the way the air was sucking me up, and I was holding the door real tight," she said. "I said, 'This is the end for me.'"
In the meantime, her daughter Monica Vasquez came home from a graduation. Monica Vasquez said after her ears popped she knew something wasn't normal.
She held on to a door until the storm system moved through.
"So me, my husband, and my five kids we went in the closet," Monica Vasquez said. "We heard a lot of noise and felt the house move."
The deadly storm hit their household's bottom line.
"And now my husband can't work because now his work stuff is gone," she said.
Her mother, Yolanda Vasquez, said at least they are all alive.
"I can say, because I know there's a lot of dead people out there that didn't make it," Yolanda Vasquez said.
Refugio Esparza and his son survived the tornado, but still have deal with the deaths of their loved ones to navigate.
There is an online fundraiser for funeral expenses.
