Tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi Kill Two and Injure Six

HOUSTON – At least two people were killed and six others injured as multiple tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, damaging homes and wrecking vehicles as the storm system moved east across Alabama early Sunday.

The National Weather Service’s severe thunderstorm tracker indicated the system was moving east across Alabama into Georgia just before 4 a.m. The agency issued severe thunderstorm warnings with the possibility of tornadoes in western Georgia and the northwestern tip of Florida directly above the Gulf of Mexico.

One person died in the Liverpool area, located south of Houston, and four people suffered injuries that were not considered critical, according to Madison Polston of the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.

There were “multiple touchdown points” in the county between Liverpool, Hillcrest Village and Alvin. Officials knew about 10 homes were damaged, but were working to determine the extent of the damage, Polston said.

In Mississippi, one person died in Adams County and two people were injured in Franklin County, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The National Weather Service said two tornadoes struck around Bude and the town of Brandon, tearing roofs off several buildings.

“These storms will probably get a lot worse tonight and move further east overnight,” said Josh Lichter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

It appeared that at least six tornadoes touched down in the Houston area, although they may find out there were more when crews left to survey the damage, and there was damage in the area from the tornadoes and the winds along the line right, Litcher said.

North of Houston, mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Katy and Porter Heights, where doors to a fire station were blown open, the weather service said.

The storms also caused departure delays of more than an hour Saturday afternoon at Houston’s two main airports, Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, according to the website FlightAware.

About 71,000 utility customers were without power in Mississippi Saturday and the number was expected to rise, said Malary White, chief communications officer for the state’s Emergency Management Agency.

About 3:30 a.m. Sunday, nearly 81,000 customers were without power in the state, up from 93,000 around 1 a.m., according to the electric utility tracking website PowerOutage.us.

The emergency management agency had no official damage reports Saturday. First responders were focused on ensuring safety and making sure everyone was accounted for, White said.

“We anticipate more thorough damage assessments starting in the early hours of the morning,” he said.

The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, issued severe thunderstorm warnings overnight for several areas in the southern part of the state, advising residents to seek shelter to avoid possible damaging winds of up to 60 mph ( 96.5 kph).