Residents begin recovery efforts as Palo Pinto County reels from tornado damage
Community comes together to clean up after storms, tornadoes hit North Texas
Community comes together to clean up after storms, tornadoes hit North Texas
Community comes together to clean up after storms, tornadoes hit North Texas
The town of Gordon, located in southern Palo Pinto County, is picking up the pieces after multiple tornadoes ripped through the area Sunday night, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
An EF-1 tornado was confirmed in and near Gordon, according to the National Weather Service. Peak winds reached 105 mph.
According to the Palo Pinto County Emergency Manager, 31 homes were damaged in the storm, including one that was completely destroyed.
"Next thing we know, the front door opened, glass shattered everywhere, the rain came in," said Alicia McCauley, who huddled with her family inside their Gordon home when the storm passed over. "We started just praying and praying, saying, 'God help us,' because it was insane. It's something I would never want to wish on anybody. It was scary."
No one was killed, but there were a few minor injuries. A family that went to the hospital for treatment has since been released.
"We're thankful to be alive, McCauley said. "That's the main thing."
McCauley said the pressure during the storm was so intense it gave her a headache.
"I don't want to do it again," she said. "I don't want to go through it again, that's for sure."
Tamber Dixon, another resident, echoed the sentiment.
"Oh, it was roaring," she said of the storm. "One went by—a big old roar—and then another came on the other side. I just sat there and prayed. Nothing we could do but pray."
Despite their losses, residents remain grateful and determined to rebuild.
"I feel blessed," Dixon said. "I have everything."
Volunteers jumped in Monday morning, working nonstop by cutting up fallen trees, clearing debris, and hauling broken pieces of roofs and buildings off homes.
"All these people, they just loaded up their tractors and trailers and skid steers and came over and started working," said Michael McCoy, whose portable structure business was destroyed. "They said, 'Point me a direction.'"
His wife, Martha McCoy, added, "And the women who didn't know what to do went to cook food and are bringing lunch, water, and Gatorade to everybody."
Only the McCoys' office and one RV were left standing.
The Red Cross is on the ground distributing supplies, but there's no need for a temporary shelter at this point. Neighbors have also set up a place to provide food and water.
"Everybody out here is great people," Martha McCoy said. "We couldn't ask for anything better."
Recovery will likely take weeks, but the people of Gordon say they're ready to face it together.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Residents in Montrose area frustrated with flooding for years want answers from Houston Public Works
The Brief Residents on Haddon Street in Montrose are frustrated after flooding. Neighbors say they have lost cars and seen damage to their driveways Public Works is taking action and one Houston City Councilmember shares her efforts on fixing issue. HOUSTON - Neighbors in the River Oaks/ Montrose area are concerned about flooding on one street. They say that has been going on for years. What they're saying "We see whenever there are small rains, we get a lot of street flooding here and extreme street flooding here. Just not minor. It's really deep and really quick, and it takes a long time to go down, "said Kevin Pope. "So we see all of Driscoll has no drains on it. There are drains on Peden and then the drains are not here again until you pass Haddon, so the problem is all the streets drain to our street." What we know Pope says the flooding has caused issues to driveways, curbs, and sidewalks. "As you see, the flooding is taking away our curbs and stuff, our sidewalk. Everything continues to get damaged, and we have all of this painted, but the rain constantly underneath it is bringing all of our coating," said Pope. "If you notice the boards on the side of the neighbors fence here, that's the water level, so that's how deep the water level was the other day." Pope says surrounding streets such as Peden, Driscoll, and Morse have water that drains onto Haddon. "It's frustrating because we can move our cars to this street, and they won't flood," said Pope. "So my Tahoe is here a lot of the time, and we cannot get vehicles out so fast that water comes up to the bumper or higher. So then what we have to do is open the door and drain the floorboards," Pope said. Why you should care FOX 26 did reach out to City Councilmember Abbie Kamin, who represents District C. She says her office has been working with neighbors and the city to get answers. "We have been escalating this. I believe we have escalated this particular street through the public works department over 12 times in the last year. That includes emails that the mayor was on, that includes different divisions within public works, that includes site visits asking public works to assess this area," said Kamin. "In the past, when residents haven't reported this street to 311, we were told there wasn't sufficient data for consideration for drainage." Kamin says she has been hoping for this issue to be resolved. "However, it shouldn't be taking this long as the latest information we have is the drainage clearing process did not work so that it now can be referred to the local drainage program, but now we are hearing it's still being screened, it's still in the process of being reviewed," said Kamin. FOX 26 did reach out to Public Works. We have been told they are meeting with a contractor in the morning to initiate construction to improve drainage. The Source FOX 26 Reporter Leslie DelasBour spoke with one homeowner who is affected as well as a Houston City Councilmember about the issue.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Shift in the Jet Stream
After waves of severe storms and heavy rainfall this month, the Jet Stream is shifting after the latest rounds of storms moved out of our State last night. Going forward, at least for now, the Jet Stream is de-energized some. A 'weakness' in the flow, kind of an 'echo' of storms Monday and Tuesday of this week in Texas will move up over our State Wednesday and Thursday. There is a chance of rain and a few storms but rainfall totals will not be nearly as heavy. Mike June 9th, 2025 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Rock Valley Flood: 1 year later
ROCK VALLEY, Iowa (KELO) — It has been about one year since floodwaters ravaged through homes, businesses and the K-12 school in Rock Valley, Iowa. The clean-up began immediately, with residents in Rock Valley and surrounding communities rallying together. Rescue at Hippie Hole in the Black Hills There's still work that needs to be done, but Rock Valley is well on the path to recovery. In Rock Valley, you can still see homes with mangled garage doors, washed-out basements and faded red tags. It's a stark reminder of the floodwaters that devastated the town. 'I don't want to ever go through that again,' Rock Valley Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo said. 'June of last year was one of those kinds of unfathomable events,' Rock Valley Valley Community School District superintendent Matt Van Voorst said. After the flooding, the K-12 school's high school gym was badly damaged, floors were caked with mud and piles of items were tossed outside. 'How do you plan for something like that? You don't,' Van Voorst said. The flood also left businesses and homeowners with overwhelming messes to clean up. Just a couple of the structures hit hard were First Impressions, owned by Deb Kempema, on the west side of town and Dawn DeWit's home further north. 'We had no inventory. This place ended up to be two-by-fours with no sheetrock, no samples, no swatches, no furniture, no accessories. It was pretty much all destroyed,' Kempema said. 'Our home had like three feet of water on the main floor,' DeWit said. Now, almost one year removed from the flooding, rain still puts some residents on edge. 'It scares you. It really does, and you, you think, 'Okay, where are my kids? Are they all okay? What's the basement here? Do we have any water? Check the sump pump.' It's kind of crazy that you don't have to think about that stuff, but you do because it's too fresh,' DeWit said. However, the town is showing signs of recovery. 'The quote I wrote down was, 'You can't make a comeback if you don't get started,'' Van Voorst said. The school's gym was repaired in time for basketball season. One of the last big projects related to flooding cleanup is waxing the floors, which is taking place this summer. 'It is remarkable to see where we're at today, but essentially, we have new flooring, cabinets, new classroom spaces,' Van Voorst said. Kempema has also gotten back on track. 'We've accomplished so much in less than a year, and a lot of people did. It's normal. It's a new normal, but it's normal,' Kempema said. Unfortunately for DeWit, her home could not be saved. 'We had lived there for 27 years, so that was home. That's where we raised our babies, but the structure was just too compromised. The location was just not a good place to be, so we needed to relocate,' DeWit said. Van Otterloo estimates that around 150 homes are unsalvageable and qualify for the FEMA buyout program. 'FEMA actually gives the money to the state. The state and the city have to work with them. The city actually purchases the homes. Then, that land can never be sold again. It has to be open space, grass or something similar to that. We can't put anything back on it,' Van Otterloo said. Thankfully, some people, like DeWit, have rebuilt homes. 'It's beautiful. It's more than we ever could imagine. We're very fortunate,' DeWit said. Others still live in trailers provided by FEMA. 'Some will be permanent that way because their homes are destroyed, but they've all got their own space that they're staying in now, so that's comforting to them,' Van Otterloo said. There are also new developments going up in Rock Valley. There's Valley Vue and Valley Villa, both on the east side of town. 'This is one of the things we asked the governor for when she was here the first time, and she said she'd get it done, and she got it done,' Van Otterloo said. Rock Valley is still recovering, but the progress residents have made would not have been possible without volunteers. 'It meant so much. I wish I could go back and recall everyone who did come and help,' DeWit said. 'What I saw was exactly what I expected. Everybody came. You didn't have to call for volunteers. They came. They brought their big equipment. We call it the Farmer Army. I mean, they showed up with whatever they had, and they didn't bat an eye,' Van Otterloo said. It was all to help a resilient community get back on its feet and inspire residents to keep moving forward. 'We just need to keep going, keep pushing, and we're doing that,' Van Otterloo said. Jordan: How thankful are you to have kind of overcome this? Deb Kempema: Oh, wow. I think about it every hour. I'm very thankful. Rock Valley also had to delay the beginning of the school year. To start the year, kindergarten through second graders were using a local church, and middle school students utilized temporary buildings provided by the state. However, everyone was back under one roof by the spring. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
