Tornadoes ravage Houston area as severe storms move east

Early Saturday, tornadoes were reported in multiple areas surrounding the Texas city home to more than 2 million people, including Brazoria County and the small cities of Cleveland and Katy. One death was reported in northern Brazoria county, along with four noncritical injuries.

By 5 p.m. ET, all tornado warnings and watches in the Houston area ended, with the National Weather Service issuing a rare “particularly dangerous situation” tornado watch for parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas until 9 p.m. CT as the storms move east. That type of warning only occurs when “long-lived, strong and violent tornadoes” are possible.

Footage of the aftermath from a tornado in Porter, Texas, which lies to the north of Houston, shows widespread damage to houses and buildings, with debris scattered across fields. Additional footage of a tornado in Katy shows it rapidly swirling debris in the air.

One resident in Porter described how after the tornado, a house in her neighborhood “is like gone.”

“The next one, the roof is completely off. Electrical poles are down on Porter Lane. It just kept going, causing so much destruction,” they added.

Another resident who experienced damage in their neighborhood of Katy described the storm as a “scary three minutes.”

Daniel Davis, the mayor of Manvel, a small city in Brazoria County, also said a tornado that passed through destroyed homes, schools, and businesses.

“There are a lot of people without power, and especially over in that area and the county, while people are on wells and septic,” he added.

The severe storms follow several tornadoes in the Houston area on Thursday, including in El Campo, to the west of Houston. They come as many are traveling for the holiday season, with Christmas concluding earlier in the week and New Year’s Day just four days away.

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This is a developing story and may be updated.