At least one person was killed when a tornado touched down in an unincorporated Gulf Coast community near the southern tip of Texas, damaging dozens of homes and downing power lines early Saturday, authorities said. said.
Roberto Flores, 42, died when the EF1 tornado struck the Laguna Heights community, located on the mainland opposite South Padre Island, Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza said.
An EF1 tornado has wind speeds of 86-110 mph (138-177 kph), according to the National Weather Service.
“Obviously it goes directly to that community,” Garza said, “Individuals don’t want to leave their homes because they’re afraid someone’s going to come in there and start stealing.”
Garza said that his sheriff’s department is helping to provide security in the area.
At least 10 people were also hospitalized – two in critical condition – and several people suffered cuts and bruises, said Tom Hushen, the emergency management coordinator for Cameron County. The tornado hit around 4 am
Hushen said the tornado “caused a lot of damage to residences … we have 40-60 damaged houses,” some severely damaged.
The Texas tornado followed a spate of twisters in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado that caused damage but reported no deaths.
Laguna Heights is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of the US-Mexico border in Brownsville and is not prone to tornado activity, although it has been active this spring, said weather service meteorologist Angelica Soria. . The weather service radar observed the rotation of the storm, he said, which caused the tornado warning.
“We had a tornado warning north of this area a few weeks ago,” Soria added, “but we haven’t been able to confirm that tornado, even though it showed up on radar.”
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Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas, and Miller reported from Oklahoma City.
