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NWS confirms EF-1 tornado in Bowie during Friday night’s storms
Major damage was reported in Bowie, where the National Weather Service confirmed there was an EF-1 tornado.
BOWIE, Texas - North Texas got a dose of strong storms overnight Friday.
Major damage was reported in Bowie, where the National Weather Service confirmed there was an EF-1 tornado.
Bowie Mayor Gaylynn Burris said there were no injuries and no fatalities reported.
Burris said she’s never seen her city hit like this.
Many trees were downed, and officials estimate there were at least 59 businesses damaged and 200 homes damaged.
There are also 400-500 power lines down across the city.
A graduation ceremony was set to be held for high school students Friday night, and just minutes before it was supposed to start, the superintendent called it off due to the severe weather.
More than 100 students were expected to graduate on with their families in attendance.
Superintendent Blake Enlow pointed to chairs that were thrown by the storm.
Chairs that were supposed to be occupied by students until the district canceled the ceremony right before the storm hit.
“The thing that can be replaced, obviously, is the facilities and stuff,” he said.
Stadium light poles were knocked over, but even as this storm comes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Enlow is confident the students and community will pick themselves back up.
“What else can our senior kiddos have to deal with?” he said. “This is just one more thing that our kids are going to have to deal with. This is such a very strong and resilient community, I didn’t have any worries about us being able to bounce back and be strong and make it through that.”
Governor Greg Abbott said he’s deploying resources, including Texas Task Force 2, to Bowie and other parts of Montague County.
People in the community have seen all sorts of damage.
“It’s a lot worse than we thought it was going to be,” said David Gutierrez, who was helping with the cleanup.
“I’ve lost everything I had,” said Deborah Robertson, whose home was destroyed.
She hid inside an underground shelter with neighbors.
“And I looked up and I saw it coming,” she recalled. “If I would’ve gone back in the house I would’ve been killed.”
Now she doesn’t have a home to go back to.
“I’m just devastated. Nothing’s left. It’s all gone. All gone. I’m just glad my puppy dogs made it because they’re my babies,” she said.