Monday 28 December 2015

7 Dead! Tornado in Dallas area leaves path of death and destruction

An overhead view of the destruction that caused eleven deaths in Texas the day after Christmas when severe storms and tornadoes hit the state. Pictured above is a street in Garland, Texas
Freak weather has swept the Southern part of the United States this weekend, killing at least 42 people along the way. 
Flooding, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms have killed people in seven states since Christmas. Eleven were killed in 
       
Texas, ten in Mississippi, six in Tennessee, seven in Missouri, five in Illinois, two in Alabama and one in Arkansas.
Meteorologists say, however, that the worst of the storms has passed, and that snow is on its way, as temperatures are cooling down across the nation. 
        The remains and debris of storage units after Saturday's tornado were left scattered throughout the parking lot in Garland, Texas 

Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Paul Braun tells the Amarillo Globe-News that crews are doing what they can to plow the drifts, but that they 'go through and it blows it right back'.
Parts of Interstate 40 west of Amarillo, Texas, and into Santa Rosa, New Mexico, were shut Sunday. Nearly 10,000 Excel Energy customers, most of them Amarillo, have been without power. High winds are blamed for knocking over utility poles and power lines. 
  Damage of home buildings is seen after Saturday's tornado in Garland, Texas, where about 600 structures were damaged, the majority of which were single-family homes
The Texas Department of Public Safety in Amarillo is strongly discouraging all travel throughout the entire Texas Panhandle because blowing and drifting snow had made the roads impassable. That's a 26-county area covering nearly 26,000 square miles.
Trooper Cindy Barkley said more than 20 motorists have been stranded by eight- to ten-foot-high snow drifts along highways US 60 and US 70 in Parmer County. The county is about 80 miles southwest of Amarillo along the Texas-New Mexico state line.
She said crews are trying to plow the roads but the blowing snow is making the job difficult.
 Cheryl Turek, of Nevada, Texas, right, hugs Evelyn Lindstrom in front of Lindstrom's destroyed home in Copeville, Texas, after heavy rain, high winds and tornados swept through North Texas
Authorities also say Interstate 40 west of Amarillo for about 50 miles to the New Mexico border will remain closed through the night.
New Mexico's governor declared a state of emergency because of impassable roads. Roswell received between 14 and 18 inches of snow since Saturday afternoon, and eight more inches were forecast.










Culled from Dailymail