‘God’s going to help us get through all of this.’ A 165 mph tornado causes widespread devastation in Texas community

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN

After a tornado packing 165 mph winds rolled through Bell County, Texas, Tuesday, JudyLynn Hughes began sifting through what was left of her belongings.

“We have found my stuff everywhere. I still have a dress in a tree,” Hughes told CNN affiliate KWTX.

Nearly everything she owned was packed up in storage units in anticipation of an upcoming move and the tornado left it all scattered.

On her hunt through the debris, she found some sentimental pieces.

“I have found quite a few treasures,” Hughes told the news outlet. “Pictures of my kids when they are babies, and I found the little necklace I gave my daughter when she went to college, so it’s been great finds.”

The EF-3 tornado that touched down in Bell County Tuesday is one of 13 reported twisters across several states, including Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota, according to preliminary data from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC).

In Texas, the powerful tornado in Bell County — northeast of Austin — injured 23 people and damaged 61 homes and two churches, County Judge David Blackburn said Wednesday during a news conference. Twelve of those injured were hospitalized, he added.

The devastating tornado flattened buildings and pulled trees up from their roots. It traveled about 13 miles through Bell County in about 30 minutes, the NWS in Fort Worth said.

First Cedar Valley Baptist Church in Bell County is among the buildings that were heavily damaged just days before Easter, CNN affiliate KEYE reported.

“In spite of the devastation that we see, the big cross that we have as we enter the building is still there,” Pastor Donnie Jackson told the news outlet.

“It is devastating, but God’s going to help us get through all of this,” his wife, Linda, said.

Jackson and his wife, along with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, sought shelter during the storm in a closet in their home near the church.

“We could hear it. It sounded awful. We could hear all the noise, did not have a clue of where it was, but we knew it was mighty close,” the pastor recalled. The family made it through unscathed, Linda Jackson added.

Farther north in Oklahoma, an EF-1 tornado touched down in Adair County Wednesday morning, pulling down trees and cutting electricity, according to Ray Sallee, the county’s emergency manager. Multiple structures were and homes were damaged, and a gas station was destroyed, he added.

“We lost power in about 75-80 percent of our homes and businesses, but most of that power has been restored,” said Sallee, adding there were two minor injuries related to the storm.

The tornado brought peak winds up to 95-105 mph and ran for about 6.5 miles just north of Stilwell in Adair County, about 100 miles east of Tulsa.

In Minnesota’s Mower County on Thursday, residents continued to comb through the pieces of their community that were torn apart when an EF-2 tornado ripped through the region Tuesday night.

Nearly a dozen houses in the county were destroyed when the tornado brought winds estimated to be as high as 130 mph, its path stretching 7.3 miles long, according to the National Weather Service.

The small southern town of Taopi was left with extensive damage as the winds snapped trees and rolled cars, leaving at least two people injured as they fled for shelter, the NWS said.

“We’ve got about 10 houses that are destroyed, which is about $800,000 worth of houses, Emergency Manager Amy Lammey said in a press conference Wednesday, adding that the town also suffered about $90,000 worth of infrastructure damage, including utility lines.

Taopi Mayor Mary Huntley said she has been overwhelmed by the response of town members who are volunteering to clear debris and clean up the community.

The central US region has seen multiple rounds severe weather this week, which brought a mix of conditions including, tornadoes, strong winds, severe thunderstorms and heavy snow across several states.

In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation Wednesday for seven counties following a day of severe weather that delivered damaging winds, tornadoes and flash flooding. The proclamation allows state resources to be used in response to severe weather that occurred in Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Humboldt, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Winneshiek and Worth counties Tuesday, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

Threat of severe weather shifts east

As the storm system moves east it will weaken but more than 25 million people remained under a slight risk (level 2 of 5) threat of severe weather Thursday evening.

That area includes the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Newark and Jersey City in New Jersey.

Overall, more than 67 million people stretching from Panama City, Florida, to Vermont and New Hampshire were under some sort of severe weather threat Thursday, CNN Meteorologist Robert Shackelford said.

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CNN’s Caitlin Kaiser, Amy Simonson, Robert Shackelford, Dave Alsup, Amir Vera and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.