Tornado Rips Baby from Mother’s Arms in Mexican Border City, Texas Ravaged by Storms

Texas Floods 2015
Screenshot NBC News

Lana Shadwick, Bob Price and Brandon Darby contributed to this report. This article has been updated.

Days of heavy rains and intense thunder storms have taken lives in Texas — and now in Mexico. A tornado hit the Mexican border city of Ciudad Acuna and reportedly ripped an infant from a mother’s arms, according to the Associated Press (AP). As Breitbart Texas previously reported, a woman and her children were swept away by flash floods after the Wimberley home they slept in was ripped from its foundations by 25-30 feet of water. Over 300 homes in the area have been swept away by the waters. At least 37 Texas counties have been declared disasters by the Texas governor and at least 12 Texans remain missing after being swept away in floods.

Governor Greg Abbott called the continuing flood damage in central Texas “absolutely devastating.” After flying over the Blanco River area on Monday, Abbott talked about the “tsunami-type power” that destroyed hundreds of homes along the river.

“This is the biggest flood this area of Texas has ever seen,” said Abbott, according to a Reuters report.

Austin, the capital city of Texas, experienced massive street flooding Monday night that left some landmark businesses flooded out.

In Bastrop State Park, a dam burst spilling the entire contents of the small Bastrop State Park Lake across Highway 71 and into the Colorado River.

The emergency manager for the National Weather Service received a report of a tornado in the LBJ Ranch State Park. Other tornadoes were reported throughout Central Texas Monday evening as the storm front made its way towards the Texas coastal area.

Catastrophic heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and destructive tornadoes have hit Texas, washing away people and homes, and causing massive destruction. This has been part of a series of hits by nature, and on Memorial Day morning, the Texas Governor added 24 counties to the areas already devastated by nature’s massive torrents — bringing the total to 37. The Governor will visit Wimberley, Texas early Memorial Day afternoon to view the damage caused by flash flooding.

Areas of Texas and Oklahoma received more than 10 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday causing flooding as waters flowed over river banks.

Major flash flooding also led to flooding in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, including Grand Prairie and Arlington.

One-inch hail was reported on Monday morning in Texas, including in Big Springs, Midland, and Del Rio, according to the Weather Channel.

A catastrophic flood hit Wimberley Saturday night and early Sunday morning. It moved downstream to the San Marcos River and about 1,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Seven feet of flood water was reported to be in the San Marcos pavilion building. Floodwaters rushed downstream into Luling, Texas.

AP Photo

Jeremy Steele, left, Ric Jaime, center, and Keith McNabb salvage belongings at their friend Mike Cook’s house near Wimberley, Texas, Sunday, May 24, 2015. About 350 homes in the town of Wimberley were washed away by flash floods along the Blanco River, which rose 26 feet in just one hour and left piles of wreckage 20 feet high, Texas authorities said. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

The Blanco River was reported to have risen more than 33 feet in just 3 hours reaching a historic level of more than 27 feet above flood stage on Sunday. The Weather Channel reported that this broke the all-time record crests from 1929 by nearly 7 feet, and this was before the river gauge stopped reporting.

An estimated 1,000 homes have been flooded in Hays County, which includes Wimberley.

Dramatic video of a man being rescued after he was washed away in an SUV near Boerne, Texas, is unfortunately not an isolated incident in the state.

Flood waters rushed over the dam at Lake Texoma along the Texas Oklahoma border, and areas around a Texas dam near Lake Conroe and the town of Willis, Texas, were under mandatory evacuation orders. Breitbart Texas reported that the dam in Montgomery County was in danger of breaching or leaking due to the damage caused from recent heavy rains in South Texas.

An apartment building in southwest Houston collapsed the day before Memorial Day. Two injuries were reported. The Houston Fire Department reported that approximately 41 units were affected, with 10 units sustaining severe damage.

Two tornadoes also hit Harris County, which includes Houston, Texas. One left residents of Rockport Apartments homeless after an F1 tornado ripped the roof off of some of the apartment homes, according to a Click2Houston report. At least one resident was transported to the hospital for injuries.

Click2Houston Arial Photo of Rockport Apartments

Click2Houston Arial Photo of Rockport Apartments

On the northwest side of Houston, residents of the Steeplechase subdivision also were awakened by an early morning small tornado. Reporting from the scene, Breitbart Texas‘ Bob Price reported that most of the damage was to trees and fences while some homes had shingle damage and broken windows. Another apartment complex also received minor roof damage.

Memorial Day Weekend Flag partially ripped off of home's flagpole. Breitbart Texas Photo by Bob Price

Memorial Day Weekend Flag partially ripped off of home’s flagpole. Breitbart Texas Photo by Bob Price

Several residents of the subdivision were out on the streets helping each other clean up debris and cut up broken trees.  One pine tree had about the top 20′ twisted off by the storm. The treetop landed about 200 feet away in a neighbors yard. None of the trees fell through roofs and no one appeared to have been injured.

Neighbors helping neighbors in Northwest Houston. Breitbart Texas Photo by Bob Price

Neighbors helping neighbors in Northwest Houston. Breitbart Texas Photo by Bob Price

In perhaps a prophetic showing of things to come, a few weeks ago, an individual in Clear Lake was washed away when waters rushed over a flat area near NASA Space Center.

This isn’t the first time that flash flooding has devastated the Texas Hill County, in the 1990’s severe weather caused similar devastation.

Texans are glad to end the drought which has plagued the state for several years, beaching boat ramps and causing a blight on the state, but the flooding has caused a loss of property and lives unseen in many years.

The rains and flooding are expected to continue through the week.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has added 24 counties to the declaration of counties in Texas that are officially disaster areas – Archer, Bastrop, Caldwell, Cass, Collin, Dewitt, Fannin, Grayson, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hidalgo, Hill, Houston, Kendall, Jasper, Johnson, Newton, Nueces, Parker, San Jacinto, Walker, Wichita, and Wilson counties.

The Governor has authorized further mobilization of state resources to assist impacted communities. Additional counties may be added to the declaration as the situation develops.

Earlier this month on May 11th, the Texas Governor declared a state of disaster in Bosque, Clay, Denton, Eastland, Gaines, Montague and Van Zandt counties. He added Cooke, Grimes, Hood, Navarro, Smith and Wise counties on May 15th. 

The Governor’s declaration follows an elevated activation of the Texas State Operations Center (SOC) to enable rapid deployment of state resources which was announced on Friday, May 4th.

In a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas, the Governor said “The State of Texas has taken brisk action in dispatching all available resources to aid those affected by this severe weather system, and I strongly urge all Texans to exercise every possible precaution to ensure their safety and the safety of their families and neighbors,” said Governor Abbott. “My thoughts and prayers are with all the communities that are suffering as a result of this weather disaster, and I am grateful for the first responders who have worked tirelessly to provide shelter, care and resources to all impacted areas.”

 

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