Multiple tornadoes touched down in Texas on Monday, leveling dozens of homes and damaging a number of schools, according to reports.
Early reports said no one died during the destructive storms that affected areas on the outskirts of some major cities in the state.
“We know there are a lot of people whose lives have been completely disrupted, people who have lost their homes,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference Monday night alongside the county judge. Williamson, Bill Gravell, reported KEYE.
“At the same time, and what I’m about to say may be premature and premature, but it may also be a miracle, because even though there has been devastating physical damage, to my knowledge for At this time, there are no reports of loss of life, which is just astounding,” the governor added.
Abbott said he will likely issue a state disaster declaration on Tuesday.
There have been a total of 19 reports of tornadic activity devastating areas near Austin, according to the National Weather Service’s Prediction Center.
The NWS issued a tornado watch for 14 million residents living in parts of central and northern Texas through 10 p.m., including residents of major cities like Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
A tornado would have left behind a two-mile-wide path of destruction in Jacksboro, a town of about 4,500 people about 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The NWS confirmed that a tornado touched down in the city around 3:50 p.m. Monday.
The Jacksboro Fire Chief estimates that about 60 to 80 homes were damaged along with the town’s elementary and high school, which sustained significant damage, NBCDFW reported.
Several students and staff were at the school when the tornado hit. Photos show the roof of the school gymnasium roof collapsed. No one was hurt.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. You see these things on the news and you never assume you’ll be in this position,” Jacksboro High School principal Starla Sanders told the WFAA. “It definitely happened today. But I’m grateful for how everyone handled things.
As of Monday night, Faith Community Hospital in Jacksboro was running on a backup generator, but was not seriously damaged, according to the outlet.
In Round Rock, located just 15 miles outside of Austin, a woman was rescued by neighbors after she was buried under her house which collapsed when it was hit by a tornado, according to KUVE.
Video shows Samantha Arevalo walking around her house after the storm, which was completely destroyed.
Arevalo said the power went out and she heard the storm coming before she “quickly grabbed everything from the bed and dragged the mattress into the bathroom.”
“We will use every resource as a city to recover, and we will recover because of you people,” Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan said.
Threats of severe storms continued Tuesday morning as the system moved eastward, but were expected to be less severe.
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