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Tornado that tore through Arlington left dozens of families homeless

November 26, 2020 Dallas News Comments Off on Tornado that tore through Arlington left dozens of families homeless 213 Views

Turkey dinner was the furthest thing from the minds of the dozens of families displaced after a tornado tore through Arlington late Tuesday, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have something to be thankful for.

Although three people were taken to hospitals, no deaths or serious injuries were reported

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The tornado spun up near State Highway 303 and Center Street just before 9 p.m. Tuesday as a line of storms swept through North Texas.

After surveying storm damage Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service confirmed an EF2 tornado, with winds up to 115 mph, was on the ground from 8:51 to 8:58 p.m. The tornado’s 150-yard-wide path extended a little more than five miles.

Though the twister was short-lived, it didn’t take long to wreck homes and businesses.

Seven buildings sustained serious damage in the storm, according to the Arlington Fire Department. The list included three apartment complexes — Waterdance Apartments, The Mirage Apartments and Garden Park Apartments — two commercial buildings, a church and a house.

The American Red Cross DFW said Wednesday evening that it was helping about 25 displaced families with meals and lodging. The residents of more than 80 apartments have been left homeless, and a leasing company helped many of them find somewhere to stay, according to the Red Cross.

Volunteers began working with apartment and city officials Tuesday night to help provide aid, including food and health care services, the Red Cross said in a written statement.

‘All this can be replaced’

At Waterdance Apartments, at least two buildings had their roofs torn off. Other buildings were missing roof tiles, and tree branches were scattered across the complex.

By 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the damaged buildings had been taped off for authorities to survey the damage.

Alan Garcia, 24, dropped by the complex to take photos of his taped-off building. Garcia was inside his second-floor apartment with his girlfriend and her family last night when the tornado came through.

At first, Garcia thought the storm was just wind and rain, but then his building took a direct hit from the tornado.

“All of a sudden, the walls started shaking, and you just hear the rip of the roof,” he said.

Garcia said he grabbed his 3-year-old daughter and ran to the bathroom with the others to take cover. After the tornado passed, he walked out of the bathroom and found the apartment wet and his belongings scattered, he said.

Garcia said his car, which he had just paid off, was buried under the rubble from the roof.

“That hits me really hard,” he said. “I worked hard for that car and for all my stuff.”

Everyone in the building was told to evacuate after the tornado passed, Garcia said. He stayed at the home of his girlfriend’s mother for the night, but he’s not sure how long he has before he’ll need to find a new place.

“We all walked out alive, and all this can be replaced,” he said. “But it just sucks to have to start over again.”

A City of Arlington street crewman cleans up debris from The Mirage Apartments complex along Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, Wednesday, November 24, 2020, after a tornado-warned storm torn the roofing off. Air conditioner units and other structural debris were scattered across the property and street. The crew is trying to get the major thoroughfare open.

1/29A City of Arlington street crewman cleans up debris from The Mirage Apartments complex along Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, Wednesday, November 24, 2020, after a tornado-warned storm torn the roofing off. Air conditioner units and other structural debris were scattered across the property and street. The crew is trying to get the major thoroughfare open.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Across Arkansas Lane from Waterdance Apartments on Stonehenge Drive, several single-family homes were also battered by the tornado.

Jeffrey Frank, 33, was in his living room when he first heard the gusts, which he described as “a high-pitched, whistling noise that kept getting louder.”

After peering out his window and seeing swaying trees, he took cover in his kitchen. Moments later, one of those trees fell through his garage, with several of its branches crashing into the living room.

Neither Frank nor his roommate were injured. The house, which Frank bought about six weeks ago, will need repairs, but he said insurance will cover them.

“These are all my moving boxes right here,” Frank said, pointing to several empty containers on the floor of his garage, all coated with debris. “We had just finished getting everything unboxed.”

Late warnings

A sleepless David Crabtree looked around the Waterdance Apartments in disbelief early Wednesday. His apartment had not sustained any damage, but he said a tree that fell outside his apartment was only a few feet from trapping him inside — or worse.

“I just wish 2020 would hurry up. I want it over,” Crabtree said as he watched workers clearing debris and displaced families packing up some belongings. “This year has been so wrong.”

Crabtree said he was finishing up a Zoom call about 9 p.m. Tuesday when he heard a sudden loud noise.

“I had just barely said, ‘See you next week,’ and then kaboom,” Crabtree recalled. “I jumped out of my skin.”

The noise came from a tree that had snapped and fallen a few feet from his front door.

Crabtree said he hadn’t gten any notifications about the tornado on his phone until after the storm had passed his apartment.

That’s because the tornado warning was issued at 8:59 p.m. — just as the tornado was dissipating.

The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 8:56 p.m., followed by the tornado warning for portions of Arlington through Dallas based on weather radars that showed the storm was rotating and intensifying.

“A lot of these circulations are very hard to detect with enough lead time,” said Eric Martello, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth. “These things tend to develop quickly and these tend to dissipate quickly.”

As the storm tracked west toward Dallas, it weakened, and the weather service was able to cancel the tornado warning.

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