At least 11 killed in Texas storms

Afterward, they left their house and sought shelter elsewhere. The Burgans’ home was flooded by waters from the Pea river.

National Weather Service survey teams headed out Sunday to determine the number and strength of the tornadoes, of which meteorologist Matt Bishop believed there were multiple. There were several reports of damage in Ellis County, south of Dallas. In Garland, 20 miles northeast of Dallas, eight people were reported dead and 15 others injured.

Three others died in Collin County, about 45 miles northeast of Dallas, according to Deputy Chris Havey, although the circumstances were not immediately clear.

In the town of Rowlett near Garland, police spokesman Det. “However, people on the highway that were driving through they had no idea that the sirens were going off and the tornado was on them in a matter of seconds”, he said.

Two families were barricaded in their homes and first responders were trying to get them out.

Tanager Tyler and son Mitchell look over a vehicle on Saturday that wound up in the culvert of their driveway after floodwaters swept it and its four occupants off the road during the previous night in Pinson, Ala.

“We’re still very concerned about eastern New Mexico, western Texas, streaming up into the Panhandle”, said Danielle Banks, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

Residents were being kept out of part of east Rowlett and heavy equipment was brought in to move debris from homes where people may be trapped inside.

In Garland, about 600 buildings were damaged, including homes, apartments and commercial property. The Texas governor said nearly the entire portion of the state north of Interstate 10, which runs through Houston and San Antonio, was already dealing with challenging weather conditions. In Amarillo, people have been facing blizzard conditions.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport because of the weather. The Dallas Mavericks NBA game was delayed by 30 minutes because of the storm.

A state of emergency has been declared in the states of Missouri and New Mexico.

Snow fell as the Sun Bowl college football game between Miami and Washington State Saturday afternoon and El Paso was forecast to get 6 to 8 inches of snow overnight.

Another three deaths were reported in Collin County, including an infant.

Rising flood waters carried away two vehicles in separate incidents. Power was out throughout much of the city Saturday night, Rowlett Mayor Todd Gottel said. Cars that had been in driveways ended up inside homes after the tornado barreled through, witnesses said. The boy was later reunited with his family.

The late Saturday tragedy came as millions of residents in the southern United States struggle to recover from fierce storms and heavy flooding. In a statement, Flynn said preliminary damage estimates show 241 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Severe storms are forecast for Sunday night through Monday as a strong cold front pushes through.

Also Sunday, the death toll in the Southeast linked to severe weather just before Christmas rose to 19 when Alabama authorities found the body of a 22-year-old man whose vehicle was swept away while attempting to cross a bridge. Four inches of rain walloped the city of Mobile, Alabama, on Wednesday – smashing the previous record of 2.2 inches set in 1990.

IL reported five deaths, while eight others were killed in southern states on and before Christmas Day, including one in Arkansas and six in Tennessee. Authorities in Greene County, where the state capital of Springfield is located, said two fatalities there were associated with the flooding.