EF-1 tornado hits Hawkins causing major damage
HAWKINS, Texas (KETK)- The National Weather Service said damage from a single EF-1 tornado has caused damage in two counties.
4 tornadoes reported in East Texas, person injured at Hawkins' water bottling plant
The twister tore through Wood and Upshur counties at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday. It was on the ground for about 30 minutes, enough to cause a path of severe destruction nearly 20 miles long from Hawkins to the west side of Lake Gilmer.
'I could see it spiraling up in the sky,' Hawkins resident Hunter Trew said. 'It looks like it decided to hop right above the tree line,' Trew said. 'So it just barely missed our house by a few yards.'
Trees snapped onto people's houses, shrapnel flew into power lines and the wind knocked over fences on Friday. People said they were prepared for severe weather but did not expect the damage brought by winds that reached 110 miles per hour.
'It's feels weird and feels like empty,' Trew said. 'It's just kind of crazy to look at. I don't really know how I feel about it yet.'
Severe weather leaves damage, flooding all across East Texas
A big part of the community's damage is from the trees. On Friday night, several roads were blocked from downed limbs and trunks. Now they're all pushed to the side but people can see just how powerful the winds are based on the size of the trees that it knocked down.
'It was pretty bad,' AK contracting co-owner Randall Klepfer said. 'The people down that way, all the way down to Ozarka water, they really got hit hard too over there.'
The tornado traveled to the water bottling plant leaving behind significant roof damage and injuring an 18-wheeler driver at the plant. Near Lake Gilmer, the storm's rear flank downdraft winds created waves powerful enough to wash away pavement on the bridge. Although the storms caused huge destruction, people living in Hawkins showed up to help their neighbors.
'After the tornado came through, the whole neighborhood got together and cleared it out, just about in one day,' Trew said.
The community will keep clearing out damage during the coming days.
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