At Least 132 Hurt; Widespread Damage Reported : 9 Killed as Tornadoes Rip Eastern Texas

Tornadoes swept across more than 200 miles of eastern Texas on Sunday, damaging scores of homes and buildings, downing power lines and leaving nine people dead and at least 132 injured.

Heavy destruction extended from east-central Texas just west of Austin to the Tyler area, in the state’s northeast corner, and into Louisiana. Sixty-five Texas counties remained under tornado watch or warning Sunday night as well as parts of Louisiana and Arkansas.

Two people were killed in Caldwell, about 60 miles northeast of Austin, and eight were injured when a twister cut a 16-mile swath through Burleson County, officials said.

Caldwell Mayor William Broaddus said that in the tornado’s half-mile-wide path “the destruction is total.”

“What is left of homes is nothing more than the concrete foundations,” Broaddus said. “The metal and wood from barns . . . siding is up in the trees for miles.”

Two people were killed in Normangee, about 50 miles northeast of Caldwell, when a tornado touched down shortly after 2 p.m., said Margaret Haislip, a sheriff’s dispatcher in Madison County. Two others were injured, she said.

Several Tornadoes in Area

Two others died in a tornado near Whitehouse, near Tyler, said Smith County Sheriff’s Deputy Johnny Beddingfield. He said several tornadoes touched down in the area Sunday afternoon. Four other people were injured.

In Giddings, about 20 miles southwest of Caldwell, seven people were injured from tornado-associated damage, said Department of Public Safety dispatcher Mike Cox. One person was reported missing in Leon County, Cox said.

In Palestine, more than 100 miles northeast of Caldwell, a tornado cut a mile-wide path about four miles long through a commercial and heavy industrial section, killing one person and injuring at least 36 people, authorities said.

The tornado hit about 3:30 p.m., leveling at least two churches and a middle school and up to 150 buildings, said Don Harris, manager of KLIS Radio in Palestine.

Two people were killed and at least 75 were hurt about 4 p.m. near Jacksonville, 25 miles northeast of Palestine, said Barbara Trotter, clinical director of nursing at Nan Travis Hospital in Jacksonville.

In Louisiana, one of several tornadoes that swept through the northwest corner of the state brought down the roof of a convenience store in Shreveport, leaving two or three people trapped inside, authorities said.

Missing Accounted For

The tornado struck Caldwell about 12:15 p.m. Most of the people feared missing earlier had been accounted for by evening, authorities said. “We have lots of trailer houses overturned, barns torn up. We have lights out all north of Caldwell,” Burleson County sheriff’s dispatcher Cory Crajdoalk said.

The destruction extended for eight miles on each side of town, Crajdoalk said.

Cox flew over the damaged area in Giddings.

“I counted about 36 structures that have damage of varying degrees, from minor damage to obliterated,” he said.

In Bell County, north of Jarrell, there were reports that a barn was damaged and a mobile home was flipped over, said Kathy Rhodes, a dispatcher in the Bell County Sheriff’s Department.