At least two people were killed and six more injured as several tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, damaging homes and flipping vehicles.
One person died in the Liverpool area, south of Houston, and four people suffered injuries that were not considered critical, said Madison Polston, spokesperson for the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.
She said there were “multiple touchdown points” in the county between Liverpool and Hillcrest Village and Alvin while officials knew of around 10 damaged homes, but were still working to determine the extent of the damage.
In Mississippi, one person died in Adams County and two people were injured in Franklin County, according to a spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Ricardo Rodriguez uses a chain saw to remove debris from a woman’s home after strong thunderstorms pass through the Greater Houston region in Porter Heights (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle/AP)
The National Weather Service said two tornadoes hit around Bude and the city of Brandon, ripping the roofs from several buildings.
“These storms are probably going to get a lot worse this evening and overnight the further east you go,” said Josh Lichter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
At least six tornadoes touched down in the Houston area, although they may discover there were more when crews go out to survey the damage, he said.
He said there was damage in the area from both tornadoes and straight-line winds.
North of Houston, mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Katy and Porter Heights, where the doors of a fire station were blown in, the weather service said.
JC Betanzos, 11, looks for items from his sister’s business and things his deceased mother gave them that blew away during a tornado (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle/AP)
The storms also caused departure delays of more than an hour Saturday afternoon at Houston’s two main airports — Bush Intercontinental and Hobby — according to the website FlightAware.
About 71,000 utility customers were without power in Mississippi and that number was expected to rise, said Malary White, chief communications officer for the state’s Emergency Management Agency.
The agency did not have any official damage reports but expected them to come in later.
First responders were focused on ensuring people’s safety and making sure everyone was accounted for, according to White.
“We do anticipate more thorough damage assessments starting in the early morning hours,” she said.