tornado

Cleanup Underway After EF-1 Tornadoes Confirmed in North Texas

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornadoes Friday after surveying damage

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A big clean-up is underway after three confirmed tornadoes struck Irving and Corsicana Thursday.

Carolyn McNally Shepherd of Irving has lived in her home along Lucille Street for about 20 years. One of her favorite parts of her home was the abundance of trees in her yard.

“And the red jays and the bluebirds. I see them every morning out here in the trees,” McNally Shepherd said. “Guess I won’t be seeing them anymore.”

Several trees by her home were downed Thursday, as severe storms pushed through North Texas. The National Weather Service damage teams confirmed the twisters on Friday, first confirming an EF-1 tornado with winds up to 105-110 mph in Irving. A second tornado was confirmed in Navarro County near the north side of Corsicana, where winds were estimated to have reached 95 mph.

Friday evening the NWS confirmed a third tornado, also an EF-1, struck the north side of Irving, just north of Texas 183. Peak winds are estimated to have reached 105 mph.

“We just kind of panicked. I know I panicked, just because I’ve never seen this before for as long as I have lived for. I don’t see how in the world those big, beautiful trees could come down like that,” McNally Shepherd said.

The storms caused branches to break and fall on her son’s car, causing some damage. Her home was spared.

Nearby, her neighbors spent Friday cleaning up. Alex Rivera is visiting his in-laws, whose home sustained some roof damage after a tree fell on a portion of it.

“I was like, ‘whoa,’” Rivera said. “It shook a little bit, but I thought it was like a car. When I saw it on top of the house, I was surprised nothing major happened.”

Next door, Virginia Romano and her family spent Friday clearing trees from their front yard.

“It was a different experience completely. Never really happened here,” Romano said, referring to the storm Thursday.

In Garland, straight-line winds reaching 75 mph caused damage to fences, trees of roofs in one neighborhood on Thursday.

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