HOUSTON (AP) – At least two people were killed and six more injured as several tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi, United States (US) during the weekend, damaging homes and flipping vehicles.
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 and Hillcrest Village and Alvin and officials knew of around 10 damaged homes 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 hit around Bude and the city of Brandon, ripping roofs from several buildings.
“These storms are probably going to get a lot worse this evening and overnight the further east you go,” said meteorologist Josh Lichter with the National Weather Service.
It appeared at least six tornadoes touched down in the Houston area, though they may discover there were more when crews go out to survey the damage, and there was damage in the area from both tornadoes and straight-line winds, Litcher said.
North of Houston, mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Katy and Porter Heights, where the doors of a fire station were blown in, the weather service said.
The storms also caused departure delays of over 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 on Saturday and the number was expected to rise, said Chief Communications Officer for the state’s Emergency Management Agency Malary White.
