The National Weather Service confirms an EF-1 tornado left a path of damage in Central Texas during severe storms Monday night.
The NWS confirmed the tornado touched down just south of the Williamson County city of Jarrell, located about 40 miles north along Interstate 35 from Austin.
The NWS told KXAN-TV in Austin there was a “concentrated area of tornadic damage” as well as damage from straight-line winds. A photo tweeted by the NWS showed the tornado began on the southwest side of Jarrell, crossed I-35 and ended just west of the city of Bartlett.
A Tornado Warning had been issued shortly after 8:45 p.m. in the area where the tornado touched down.
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A ground survey will determine the tornado's strength, length and size.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said an aerial survey showed about three dozen homes or businesses had light to severe damage. At least one home that was under construction had collapsed.
Gravell said there was no loss of life. KXAN-TV reported one person in an 18-wheeler that overturned had injuries that were not life-threatening.
“This is the third tornado to hit Jarrell or the Jarrell area in the last seven months. It’s a community that has been really hit hard by the weather,” Williamson County Commissioner Russ Boles said.
One of the buildings hardest hit was a local fire station that had part of its roof and doors blown off.
“I got a text from one of my guys that we were under a Tornado Warning. And just as I was reading that text the power went on out my house and then I got another text that the garage doors have been blown off of the station,” said Chief Ron Stewart, Williamson County ESD 5.
“We were out here until about 2, 3 in the morning assessing damage, making sure everybody was OK,” Stewart added.
In nearby neighborhoods, fences were blown down and several roofs were damaged. A number of tractor-trailers were overturned in the powerful winds.
“I got a call late last night when the storm came through, saying that we had trailers out the road,” said Doug Meadows, owner of Rolling M Trailers. He spoke to NBC DFW from a forklift he used to get the vehicles back onto his property.
“We have been lucky. We have been here for 22 years and this is the first time we've had something like this happen,” Meadows said.
