Texas Tornadoes Destroy Almost 60 Homes Built by Habitat for Humanity

(NECN/NBC News: Jay Gray) - Hundreds of families across north Texas are working through the debris left after a string of deadly tornadoes ripped through the area. Six people were killed, several are still missing after more than a dozen twisters touched down just outside of Fort Worth.

The rural community of Granbury was the hardest hit.

Twisted metal and splintered wood like this dot the north Texas landscape right now as hundreds of families begin the difficult recovery here.

As so many work through the rubble left behind by a string of at least 16 tornadoes that battered north Texas, stories of survival are also being pulled from the debris.

“And in just seconds… I've heard it described as a freight train and it is... The wind came, it was horrendous," says tornado survivor Judith Butner, who was in her trailer when the storms hit. "It started rocking... I'm on my hands and knees in the bathtub and on the fourth rock it just up ended and toppled and blew me into the next door neighbor’s yard."
When she came-to, Butner had a broken leg and a lot of scratches and bruises.

“I just said ‘alright lord, if this is it... I'm ready’...you know… And apparently it wasn't."

The string of storms did take six lives, and a handful of residents are still missing. After an extensive search, however, officials believe they are safe.

"I am very confident that we will find the people alive and well, and that they just haven't reported in to us,” says Sheriff Roger Deeds.

We're also learning more about the area that took the most vicious hit. Close to a hundred homes in the Rancho Brazos neighborhood were severely damaged or destroyed. About 60 of them were houses built by Habitat for Humanity.

"We worked out on a house yesterday to finish it, and went out today, and it was a slab,” says Ronald Barrett of Habitat for Humanity.

For the homeowners and volunteers, these are not just piles of debris. The broken glass and splintered wood represent months of hard work, determination and dreams ripped away in a matter of minutes.

"It's hard on those families. Those homes meant a lot to those families,” Barrett says.

Those families, like hundreds of families across north Texas, now find themselves struggling to survive.

Texas Governor Rick Perry will travel there later Friday to visit with survivors and get a first-hand look at the devastation.

Copyright NECNMIGR - NECN
Contact Us