The unrelenting violent weather Saturday followed a string of tornadoes and flash floods earlier last week that left at least 18 people dead in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Until the holiday season outbreak, only 10 people had died in tornadoes across the nation, the fewest number on record, USA Today reported.
Hardest hit Saturday was Garland, a city more than 230,000 people 20 miles northeast of Dallas, where eight people died and 15 were injured, Police Lt. Pedro Barineau said. He said 600 homes and businesses were damaged.
"It's total devastation," Barineau said.
Three people, including an infant, also died in Copeville, about 40 miles northeast of Dallas, according to the Collin County Sheriff's Office.
The National Weather Service said at least 11 tornadoes had blasted through the Dallas area Saturday, a preliminary count that could rise in coming days.
In Garland, at least five of the fatalities occurred near Interstate 30 and the George Bush Turnpike northeast of Dallas as multiple cars became caught in the severe weather. Several vehicles plunged as far as 17 feet from a bridge in the area, Garland Police spokesman Mike Hatfield said. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, authorities said.
