"Debris was flying everywhere": 9 dead as storms spread from Texas to the northeast

FRANKLIN, Texas – As a powerful tornado hit Saturday, Victor Henry took his wife and children to the hallway of their home.

"He started lifting us and my son took me by the shoulder and said," Dad, "and I said," Hold on, "recalls Henry, 49, on Monday. . The tornado tore the roof of the house and tore the center.

"Debris was flying everywhere," recalls Henry. "After all, we got up and, of course, we went out in what we thought was the living room. Instead, we were really outside because there were no walls. "

The tornado that destroyed the Henry House crossed the heart of a residential area near the small downtown Franklin, Texas, about 125 km south of Dallas, leaving blocks of rubble in its wake. He destroyed 55 houses, a church, four businesses, a duplex and part of the building of the local housing authority, authorities said. Some people had to be removed from the damaged homes.

The tornado was part of a storm system that swept the country over the weekend, killing at least nine people, including three children, and leaving a trail of damaged homes, broken trees and power outages from Texas to the Northeast.

"It's been five or six years since we've seen tornadoes of this magnitude at this time of year," said Scott Overpeck, Senior Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Southeastern Texas. The service stated that the storm that struck Franklin had winds of at least 136 km / h; Mayor Molly Hedrick said it caused at least $ 3.8 million worth of damage.

Rodney Green, 44, was in the house of his three rooms with his wife Shayla and their six children when the storm hit Saturday with a torrent of rain and hail that began to blow the windows.

"The next thing I noticed, the mobile home has rocked," Green said, remembering how he and several of the kids had sought refuge in the bathroom. Then, he says, a tree hit the house.

The caravan was uprooted from its base, tumbled onto the road and struck vehicles parked nearby, before hitting a tree and tearing itself apart. The family was projected more than 20 meters away and landed on empty land, Green said. "When my eyes opened, I said," I can not believe I'm still alive. "It's something you never want to live on."

In total, at least 17 tornadoes swept through Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Ohio over the weekend. The storms also dumped snow on parts of the Midwest and flooded the northeast with heavy rains before going to sea on Monday. Four people died in Texas, two in Louisiana and one in Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia.

Two children were killed when a A pine tree fell on their family's car during a violent storm Saturday on a small road in East Texas, near Pollok, about 150 km southeast of Dallas. The children, Dilynn Creel, 8, and her brother, Jace, 3, were with their parents, who were returning home in what they thought was safety, said Kirsten Redd, a family friend.