(April 30, 2006)—The National Weather Service has determined that a tornado was responsible for damaging or destroying buildings early Saturday morning in east Waco, where two horses belonging to the Baylor equestrian team died when a stable collapsed.
Six other horses were injured.
The tornado that touched down south of Kendall lane a little more than a mile west of Loop 340 caused the partial collapse of a two-story home, leveled a barn and outbuildings, downed trees, and damaged two other homes as well as storage buildings as it crossed Orchard Lane, the Weather Service said.
More than a dozen people were displaced by the tornado, the Waco Police Department said.
The American Red Cross assisted the residents in finding temporary shelter.
The strength of the tornado has not yet been determined.
Baylor equestrian team coach Ellen White lived in the home that was destroyed by the tornado. The team’s horses were in her barn, where they were being kept until work is completed on the school’s new equestrian center.
The tornado cut a path about three-quarters of a mile in length and was about 150 feet wide, the Weather Service said.
The tornado would have been difficult to detect before touchdown, the Weather Service said.
“Radar data suggest that the tornado developed in the lower levels of ht storm” the Weather Service report said.
“This type of development can occur very rapidly and can be difficult to detect.”
“Additionally, the nighttime conditions provided poor viewing conditions for storm spotters in the area.”
The complex of powerful thunderstorms that produced the tornado left damage across large areas of Central and North Texas late Friday night and early Saturday morning.
In the North Texas town of Gainesville, small planes were pushed into each other at an airport. Authorities said no serious injuries were reported from the storms.
North Texas was hit by storms with winds up to 100 miles per hour and hail the size of baseballs.
A spokeswoman for Gainesville says that while damage was still being assessed, at least hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged in the city near the Oklahoma border.
Some areas were still without power.
The same storm system that hit North Texas moved early Saturday to the southeast part of the state. A San Jacinto County Sheriff's Department dispatcher says two homes in a subdivision in Coldspring were damaged.
The Liberty County Sheriff's Department had various reports of the strong winds knocking down trees and damaging homes.
There was some street flooding in the Houston area.
Recent Texas Tornadoes
May 05, 2002: Two die in Happy south of Amarillo when tornado hits, damaging about 20 homes.
Mar 30, 2002, Thornton, Limestone County, 20 homes damaged or destroyed, 4 injured, none seriously
Mar 30, 2002, Hico, Hamilton County, roof damage, power lines downed, no serious injury
May 12, 2000, Walling Bend Park area, Lake Whitney, Bosque Co. One dead, one injured. Rated F-3. 38 homes destroyed, 11 homes had major damage, 16 homes minor damage, one business damaged.
March 28, 2000, Ft Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, 5 dead, 100 injured, $450 million property damage (one of the dead, a 19 year old man, was killed when he was hit by a hailstone).
May 27, 1997, Jarrell. 27 dead, property damage
