Hail the size of tennis balls and wind gusts up to 89 m.p.h. pounded North Texas late Saturday, killing at least two people and displacing dozens of others, according to local officials.
The storm approached Wise County from the west at around 10 p.m. Central time. At least one person died in the city of Runaway Bay, which is about 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth. Six people were treated or transported to the hospital and 20 families were displaced, according to the county judge, J.D. Clark, who spoke at a news briefing on Sunday.
“Overnight, this storm caused significant damage across multiple neighborhoods, and our community is feeling that weight this morning,” Mr. Clark said.
The extreme weather tossed vehicles and took down power lines. Emergency responders provided medical care, cleared debris and worked to reach affected residents.
Texas Task Force 2, a crew trained to respond to emergencies, conducted search and rescue operations, and additional support was being provided by the American Red Cross and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
“We stand together, and we will get through this together,” Mr. Clark said in a statement.
Howling wind and hail also lashed the neighboring Parker County, as the storm continued east. At least one person died in a rural area outside of Springtown, about 26 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The bulk of the damage occurred in this area, according to Jason Lane, the emergency management coordinator for Parker County.
Winds reached 89 miles per hour Saturday night, he said, although it remained unclear if the storm became a tornado.
On Sunday morning, officials were canvassing the area and completing damage assessments, Mr. Lane said. It is unclear how many people were injured or displaced in Parker County. At least 11,000 people remain without power.
“There were a lot of folks in Parker County that were significantly impacted by this storm,” Mr. Lane said in an interview, adding that there would be financial losses for both the county and its residents because of the storm.
Dozens of homes and vehicles suffered damages across the region. Images show trailers flipped upside down and a cluster of homes ripped apart by the storm. Wind pulled shingles and wood from roofs, exposing attic storage and insulation. Some properties appear to have been completely flattened. In one image, wood boards appear to lie where a home once stood.
The power went out at Stephanie Bryan’s house, about seven miles south of Springtown.
Ms. Bryan, 55, said she, her husband, their daughter and four dogs gathered in an interior hallway around 9:30 p.m. The family felt the underpinnings of their mobile home give and feared the structure would be swept into the air. They prayed for safety and monitored the storm’s progress on their phones.
“It felt like you were being lifted up off of the floor,” she said, adding that she had “never been in a storm as intense as it was last night.”
Georgia Gee contributed research.
Bernard Mokam covers breaking news.
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