FORECASTS MAPS VIDEO PHOTOS NEWS TV WINTER STORMS

Log In / Sign up

Severe Weather

Tornadoes Cause Destruction, Flooding

Continues in Texas; 6 Dead, At Least 2
Missing
Published:
Nov 2 2015 08:00 AM EST
weather.com

Six people have been reported dead, and at least two are missing as severe weather sweeps across
the Gulf Coast.
"A large weather system moving through the region has been producing heavy rainfall and severe
thunderstorms since Friday," said weather.com meteorologist Quincy Vagell. "Record rainfall has
caused flooding across Texas, and the storms have spawned numerous reports of tornadoes over
parts of several states."
(MORE: Track Severe Weather in the South)

Six Reported Dead, At Least 2 Missing

According to the Associated Press, six people have been killed in connection with the flooding in
Texas.
Houston police discovered two bodies believed to be weather-related deaths. One body was found in
a flooded ditch and the other was located in a wooded area that had previously been in high water,
according to city spokesman Michael Walter.

Friday night, a victim's body washed up in Camp Bullis, a U.S. Army training camp, around 6:15
a.m. 502nd Air Base Wing chief of public affairs for Joint Base San Antonio Oscar Balladares said
the individual was a contract employee whose vehicle was washed downstream. An identity has yet
to be released.
Saturday morning, a death was confirmed when officials found the body of a man whose vehicle was
swept away Friday southeast of Austin, the AP reported.
According to KVUE, crews are also looking for a 37-year-old man who was swept off the top of his
car in the area of SH 130 and FM 812. Two other people were in the car, but they were rescued.
Two people were missing from earlier flash floods in the Austin area. The body of a man swept away
around Austin was found Saturday, but another remains missing
The body of a 67-year-old woman that went missing near Citation and Ruidosa in Southeast Travis
County was found by authorities Saturday. The woman and her husband were being rescued from a
home at the time of her disappearance. Crews were able to get her husband to safety and he was
taken to an area hospital.
Roger Wade, Travis County public information officer, said a man in his 40s or 50s was found after
he was swept away by floodwaters in Travis County. Eyewitnesses told authorities they were
attempting to reach the man on the roof of his car when he was swept away, KVUE also reported.
The man has not been identified, pending notification of relatives.

Tornadoes Leave Damage in Texas, Louisiana

The National Weather Service confirmed an F1 tornado in Rapides Parish damaged buildings and
trees near Elmer, Louisiana, on Saturday. A second F1 produced similar damage to trees and
outbuildings near Cravens, Louisiana, the same day.
Six confirmed tornadoes were reported south and east of Houston on Saturday morning, according
to the National Weather Service. There were reports of overturned mobile homes and possible
injuries. Utilities in East Texas said that 44,000 customers were without power.
The National Weather Service reports that tornadoes caused damage to six communities in the
Houston area. A radar-confirmed tornado damaged between 10 and 30 homes around 7 a.m. in an
eastern Harris County subdivision, according to the Associated Press.

In Friendswood, a Houston suburb, one home had a collapsed roof from a tornado that hit around
5:30 a.m. Officials say no one was injured and the home's residents were away at that time. Around
30 other homes had minor damage.
Officials reported that about 15 to 20 trailer homes were damaged when a confirmed tornado went
through Alvin, located 30 miles south of Houston. An elderly couple sustained minor injuries when
their trailer was overturned.
In Pasadena, a tornado caused extensive tree and fence damage along its path and caused
significant roof loss to several homes, one of which lost a portion of an exterior brick wall, according
to the National Weather Service.
Barrett saw minor roof damage to several homes, with damage mainly to trees and power lines.
A tornado in Lake Jackson knocked down fences and uprooted shallow trees before tracking across
a Hobby Lobby store and the eastern end of Brazos Mall, causing roof damage.
A barn and farmhouse in Danbury were severely damaged by a tornado before it went on to flip three
trailers at an RV park before lifting them off the ground. Residents of the RV park were warned of the
tornado's approach at 4:15 a.m. and witnessed it around 4:30 a.m.
The towns of D'Hanis and Floresville took a hard hit from suspected tornadoes early Friday. There
were also reports of damage near San Marcos as the severe weather pushed northeast. Bluebonnet
Electric tweeted photos of a mangled transmission tower near San Marcos Friday afternoon.
NWS meteorologist Jason Runyen said businesses have been damaged in downtown D'Hanis and
that trees are also down. Medina County authorities told NBC San Antonio that a bank was
destroyed and other buildings were damaged, but they were unsure if there were any injuries.
The Wilson County Sheriff's Office told The Weather Channel that Floresville High School was
damaged. No injuries have been reported from either of the suspected tornadoes.
Some homes and other structures between Seguin and Zorn lost roofs during the storms, Guadalupe
County Sheriff's Capt. Tom Meeley told the Associated Press.

Major Flooding Prompts Water Rescues, Evacuations

The Houston Fire Department responded to around 90 water rescues early Saturday morning as the
city saw around five inches of rain in a matter of a few hours. The worst of the flooding was reported
in the southwest and southeast parts of town, with the Westbury area receiving nearly six inches of
rain.

Storms have caused trouble with traveling in Houston, as heavy rains and flooding have washed out
roads and halted some public transit, reports AP. Saturday, the city's nearly 23-mile light rail system
suspended service because of the rainfall. Emergency management officials say high water also
affected public bus routes and swamped major highways.
Multiple water rescues were conducted elsewhere in Austin and Travis counties, including the rescue
of two police officers caught in rushing floodwaters, as well as that of Ed Asapi, who clung to an 18wheeler until rescuers reached him.
The Austin County Emergency Management Service reported Friday afternoon that multiple
residents in the Man-O-War/Maha Loop/Quicksilver area were stranded on their rooftops and
rescues were underway. Austin ResQ Medics escorted a medical patient across a flooded roadway
to a waiting ambulance and made at least one water rescue later Friday.
Among those rescued earlier in the day was a church group from Dallas, stuck at a Wimberley bedand-breakfast when a nearby creek overflowed and trapped them. Kathleen Haney told the
Associated Press she and seven others from the Dallas group were saved by members of the
National Guard when they strung a rope between the staircase and higher ground, and they were
then brought to safety.
(WATCH: Lightning Strikes Radar Assembly)
Flooding forced San Marcos city officials to close an evacuation center at the San Marcos Activity
Center Friday afternoon. Citizens who were waiting out the flood at the Activity Center were bussed
to a new evacuation center at Miller Middle School. San Marcos city officials closed the evacuation
centers Saturday evening after residents were either able to return home or were moved to other
housing.
Travis County Emergency Management issued a Regional Notification System (RNS) message to
residents of the Citation Circle neighborhood Saturday, notifying them to evacuate to higher ground.
In Austin, boats were deployed by the Austin Fire Department to help with water rescues. Passenger
vehicles were nearly submerged by floodwaters near the interchange linking U.S. Highway 183 and
State Route 71 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport late Friday morning.
In eastern Bexar County, a school bus with children inside got stuck in high water, and crews were
able to successfully remove everyone inside, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said via Twitter.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report