Two people are confirmed dead and two others are missing as severe storms plagued Central and Southeast Texas on Friday.
The victims of the storm – one from Austin and one outside San Antonio – were swept away from rising flood waters. Another man and woman were still unaccounted in separate incidents in the Austin area on Friday and crews were still searching the area early Saturday.
Teams from the National Weather Service are expected to examine three areas Saturday where tornadoes were thought to have wreaked havoc on Friday. The San Antonio Express-News reported that some areas received some extensive wind damage.
The storms and suspected tornadoes have saturated an already soaked swath of the state that was still trying to dry out from the remnants of Hurricane Patricia. The storms forced more evacuations of flood-prone areas and slowing or shutting down traffic on long stretches of Interstate 35.
More than 16 inches of rain drenched one neighborhood and Austin Bergstrom International Airport suspended all flights after a half-foot of water flooded the air traffic control tower. A lazy creek cutting through Texas wine country swelled into a rushing torrent, sending eight members of a vacationing church group scrambling to a second floor when they were rescued by the National Guard.
Powerful winds tossed a trailer from an RV park onto the roof of a three-story Holiday Inn. Abandoned cars, many submerged in water, littered back roads that weary drivers risked after heavy downpours flooded Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin, closing one of the busiest stretch of roadways in the U.S.
“We’ve got a lot of damage down here,” Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt said. The Express-News reported about 7,000 people were without power Friday afternoon.
Last weekend, storms from Patricia's Category 5 aftermath dumped nearly a foot of rain in parts of the same region. Although not deadly, that drenching left the ground saturated and unable to sop up the latest deluge.
Forecasters say an upper-level disturbance from Mexico carried the storms into Texas as a strong El Nino is expected to make for a wet winter in the U.S.
The Blanco River – which produced massive flooding in surrounding towns earlier this year when it overflowed in May – swelled up to about 26 feet in Wimberley, nearly twice the flood stage. Residents were evacuated from the area and a community center was opened as a shelter.
Farther south in Floresville, a suspected tornado caused only minor injuries, said Sgt. Jason Reyes of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Ruth Veliz, whose parents own a taco shop in town, said one of her employees yelled "Tornado!" and tried to keep the winds from blowing inside before a customer pulled her to safety.
"The door was flying open with her as she was trying to close it," Veliz said.
Wind gusts of up to 70 mph were reported in some places. The flooded portion of Interstate 35 was reopened later Friday, but not before southbound drivers turned against traffic and tried driving north along the shoulder. Winds peeled off roofs elsewhere and collapsed a historic 19th-century building in the small town of D'Hanis, one of three cities where suspected tornadoes touched down.
"If it would have happened at 10 a.m. instead of 4 a.m., might have been a different story," Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said.
Fox News
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