Jan Wesner Childs and Ron Brackett
Damage assessments and surveys continued across parts the south Wednesday, a day after an EF3 tornado tore through some Houston suburbs.
Homes and businesses were leveled, a nursing home evacuated, an animal shelter heavily damaged and a train flipped on its side by the storm on Tuesday.
The weather prompted the National Weather Service there to declare a rare tornado emergency.
(MORE: The Latest Severe Weather Forecast)
Here are our updates from Wednesday:
(4:52 p.m. ET) Suburban Houston Tornado Rated At EF3
The tornado that tore through the Houston suburbs of Pasadena and Deer Park has officially been rating an EF3 with winds up to 144 mph, according to the National Weather Service. It was on the ground for about 18 miles, and is the strongest tornado to hit Harris County in almost 21 years.
(12:35 p.m. ET) Damage Consistent With EF2 Tornado
Damage in one Pasadena, Texas, neighborhood is consistent with an EF2 tornado packing winds up to 120 mph, according to Jeff Lindner, meteorologist for Harris County, which includes the Houston suburbs.
Lindner is with National Weather Service crews surveying the area. In a social media update he noted "heavy damage to just a few homes within a much wider damage area."
(12:13 p.m. ET) Houston-Area Damage In Photos
Click through the slideshow below for the latest images from the Houston area.
(11:59 a.m. ET) Clean Up Begins At Deer Park Church
Clean up is underway at places like Deer Park's St. Hyacinth Catholic Church. Photos shared on the church's Facebook account show a missing roof, downed trees and debris scattered across the property.
"As you can see from the pictures the church complex sustained heavy damage," an earlier update read.
That included damage to several windows as well as water damage.
(11:30 a.m.ET) Mayor: Power Outages Are Today's Biggest Challenge
“Getting power restored is going to be the biggest problem in the next little bit," Deer Park, Texas, Mayor Jerry Mouton told The Weather Channel. "We’ve still got a lot of extensive damage in that.”
Mouton said about 17,000 residences remain without electricity, and additional crews are being sent in today to help.
(9:44 a.m. ET) NWS To Survey Storm Damage
The National Weather Service office for Houston said a team will go out today to survey storm damage across southeast Texas.
A survey team is tasked with verifying whether the damage was caused a tornado or thunderstorm winds, when a tornado first touched down and lifted, how wide it was, and its intensity, according to weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.
This sounds straightforward, but the process behind it can be complex and time consuming. Read more about it here.
(9:37 a.m. ET) Roof Ripped Off Catholic Church
St. Hyacinth Catholic Church in Deer Park, Texas, lost its roof in the storm.
Significant damage is visible in video and photos from the church's campus. A large pile of debris, insulation and air conditioning units sat in the yard near the church's offices.
(8:54 a.m. ET) 3 Hurt In Northern Louisiana
Three people were injured and taken to a hospital after a storm tossed several mobile homes in Louisiana's Pointe Coupee Parish.
The Sheriff's Office said one unoccupied home was flipped and two others were destroyed, according to WAFB.
(6:46 a.m. ET) Teenager Rides Out Tornado In Pickup
Loren Green and his wife were filling out paperwork in their doctor's office and their teenage son waited in their pickup truck outside when the tornado hit Pasadena.
Green tried to get to his son as the lights flickered and the doors started swinging open and closed, but it was impossible.
"I could see debris flying everywhere, so I locked the door and went back into where the patient rooms are," Green told KHOU. "It was loud. It was a loud rushing roar."
With windows shattering and the roof lifting off, Green and the others hunkered down. His son was still in the truck.
"He said the airbags deployed and he sat there and just kind of held on," Green said. "I mean all this rock and everything was flying through the back windshield. It's a good thing he didn't get hurt."
The teenager didn't get a scratch on him, Green said. The truck, however, is not drivable.
(6:26 a.m. ET) Couple Survives As Tornado Hits RV
John and Billie Liparito were in their RV at the Moose Lodge in Pasadena when the tornado hit.
A building beside where they had parked was shredded in the storm.
"I looked out the window and saw the rain coming – sideways. I looked over there and the roof was lifting up and I knew it was over at that time," John Liparito told ABC 13.
The storm slammed the building's roof into their RV.
"It knocked us to the ground," John Liparito said. "We got pushed over to the couch. You feel yourself getting sucked back and forth. We managed to get on the ground and crawl through the glass into the bedroom."
The couple huddled next to the bed for about five minutes as the storm roared around them.
"We live in this. This is our home. No we have no place to go," Billie Liparito said.
While their RV remained upright, many others were flipped on their sides. One even landed in a retention pond behind the parking lot, according to the Houston Chronicle.
(6:08 a.m.) Houston Apartments Lose Roof
The storms blew the roof off an apartment complex in Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted.
About 50 people were taken to a Red Cross shelter because their apartments were declared unsafe, according to ABC 13.
Turner said three people were taken to a hospital with non life threatening injuries.
He added that four structures in the city were flooded and there had been 22 reports of debris. A wastewater facility was damaged but was still functioning.
(5:52 a.m. ET) Damage Reported in Pasadena
Major damage was reported in the city of Pasadena, about 15 miles southeast of Houston.
"I've worked here for 25 years, and this is probably the worst damage that I've seen," Pasadena Police Chief Jeff Bruegger said. "It's just catastrophic."
The storm leveled homes in the Bliss Meadows neighborhood off Spencer Highway.
"I was standing in the hallway, and I watched the windows in my house blow in, and we ran screaming into the shower," Barbara Buckner told ABC 13. "And here we are. My son-in-law, my daughter, my new baby, and myself are standing in the shower. We're screaming. The house was shaking like this. It was the scariest thing ever."
Several businesses, including an animal shelter, also sustained heavy damage.
Mayor Jeff Wagner said only one person had been injured, but “we’ve seen plenty of damage. We’ve seen buildings that have collapsed.”
Pasadena school will remain closed today.
(5:40 a.m. ET) Dozens Of Homes Damaged In Deer Park
Up to 30 homes suffered major damage from the tornado that slammed into Deer Park, a small city southeast of Houston, according to Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton.
No fatalities were reported, Mouton told the Houston Chronicle.
About five dozen residents of a nursing home were evacuated after reports of structure collapsing there.
The Deer Park school district has canceled classes today.
“There is one aspect of me that’s amazed that no one got injured,” Mouton said. “We will deal with the property and recover and rebuild.”
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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