Deadly storms tore across the Mexico-Texas
border Tuesday. A tornado killed six people and left a path of destruction
in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. At least three people were
reported dead on the other side of the border in Piedras Negras, Mexico.
VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Marshall, Texas.
People
all across Texas are paying close attention to weather reports as the news
of devastation wrought by tornados comes in.
A tornado obliterated mobile homes and heavily damaged an elementary
school in Eagle Pass, leaving debris spread over a wide area.
Power lines are down and
several buildings lost roofs. Dozens of people have flocked to nearby
clinics and hospitals on both sides of the border.
Mexican authorities say at least 40 people were injured by the storms
and they are continuing rescue operations to help people who may have been
left stranded.
In the Eagle Pass area, local police, the Border Patrol and National
Guard units are assisting local agencies in search and rescue efforts.
More than 350 people crowded into shelters and many more are believed to
have gone to the homes of relatives and friends whose homes were not
affected by the storm.
The same storm system that generated the tornados in Texas moved on
over eastern Colorado and produced heavy, wet snow. Many motorists were
stranded by snow drifts across roads and some 60 school children had to be
taken to shelters south of Denver when their buses were halted by the
storm.
A tornado damaged buildings in the community of Wild Horse, Colorado,
about 175 kilometers southeast of Denver, but there were no injuries
reported.
Severe thunder storms and high winds swept across northern Texas and as
far north as Nebraska and Iowa, where heavy rains caused flooding in some
areas.
In Dallas, American Airlines canceled about 200 flights because of the
weather. Many Dallas-bound flights were diverted to San Antonio, where
hotels were quickly filled and the local Red Cross set up a refuge for
passengers at a school near the airport.
On Wednesday, a wave of storms moved across southeast Texas,
threatening the Houston area and southwestern Louisiana with high winds
and heavy rain. |