At least 11 killed in Texas tornadoes as storms slam central US

A heavily damaged area is seen December 27, 2015 in the aftermath of a tornado in Rowlett, Texas.

Heavy rain of up to 6 inches was expected to hamper emergency crews late into the night in Dallas and surrounding areas, which were under a flash flood watch because the ground is already saturated, the National Weather Service said. The weather service said damage indicated it was likely an EF-3 tornado, which has winds up to 165 miles per hour.

Sixty-two people have died due to tornados this month, a Storm Prediction Center official tweeted on Sunday, the most in 62 years.

About 600 structures were damaged, the majority of which were single-family homes.

A witness reported the soldiers’ vehicle driving onto a flooded road and immediately getting swept downstream, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office said.

Five people died in Garland, two in Copeville and one in Blue Ridge.

He declared disasters in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and Ellis counties.

The mayor of Garland which was hit hard on Saturday says on his official Facebook page that search teams are still looking through the rubble from an EF-4 tornado.

As a result of the same storm system, 20 states from New Mexico to MI and Georgia had some type of weather watch or warning Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Check out the Weather Channel to prepare for any severe weather that you may face. More could be on their way on Sunday, said the service, which has issued a tornado watch for several Houston-area counties.

Ladarren Phillips surveys tornado damage to a house on Rising Star Road in Holly Springs, Miss., Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015. At least three people who died were found in vehicles, said Barineau, who also noted that some cars appeared to be thrown from the interstate, though it wasn’t known whether that was how the people found in the vehicles died. And Greene County authorities said two fatalities there were associated with the flooding.

In California, high winds fanned a wildfire that closed parts of the much-traveled Highway 101 northwest of Los Angeles and forced evacuations, fire officials said. With the recent heavy rains, that trickle grew into several feet of swiftly moving water.

A flash flood warning was in effect for Dallas County Saturday night. Rowlett City Manager Brian Funderburk says 23 people were injured and “huge amounts of damage” from a tornado is widespread but concentrated in the eastern part of the city. Ranager Tyler and his son waded into flood water Christmas night and used rope to pull an 11-year-old boy out after his family’s auto was swept away near Pinson, about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham. The tornado hit the town of Garland, killing eight individuals and blowing automobiles off highways.

In Mississippi, where Governor Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency to deal with flooding, “severe storms” are forecast for late Sunday through Monday, the state Emergency Management Agency said. “We called the pastor to try and tell him but couldn’t get a hold of anyone”. “We’re going to look at every house and every auto to try to make sure we find everybody”. “The church across the street was destroyed”.

“Doors began to turn inward, when I saw that I figured the glass was going to shatter and hit me in the face, so I broke and ran down the hallway and by the time I got just a few feet everything collapsed and went dark and fell on top of me”, he said, adding: “By the grace of God I’m here though”.