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Early Saturday morning winds up to 90 miles per hour struck Waco, Texas and central McLennan County, United States, causing widespread damage and leaving many households without electricity.

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported;h owever, there is a tremendous amount of damage in 15 areas of the city, leading Mayor Virgina DuPuy to declare the city a disaster area.

The hardest hit area was Franklin Avenue, where the Coca-Cola bottling plant's roof was peeled open like a giant can-opener. There were Sprite bottles spread out onto the street. The nearby Furniture Row shopping center was also hit hard. Some furniture was found as far as three-quarters of a mile away. Other hard-hit areas were Robinson, Hewitt, Woodway, and Speegleville. Densely populated Inner Waco was spared of any catastrophic damage, though hundreds, and possibly thousands, of trees have fallen, and roofs destroyed.

The main concern is restoring power to over 23,000 households and businesses. Many gas stations and grocery stores in the disaster areas were closed until power is restored. Those that remained open have had to throw out all perishable items. Also of concern is getting electricity to those with medical needs. The city has provided help to those without power at the Dewey Recreation Center.

The storm is the hardest to hit the area since the tornado that struck on May 11, 1953, which tore through downtown and killed 114 people.

Waco has seen more than its share of tornados recently. Only a week ago, an F1 tornado damaged many houses along Orchid and Kendall Lanes. No people were injured, though two horses were killed when their stable collapsed.

It still hasn't been determined whether this morning's winds were a tornado or high-speed straight winds.

This article originally appeared at WikiNews.

1 Comments:

SuperClog said...

NWS out of Fort Worth, has determined that the winds that hit Waco were straight line/downburst winds in excess of 50mph, the area around Richland Mall and down Franklin Avenue, was classified as an F2 Tornado. Winds were clocked at 115 mph in that area. Coca-Cola bottling company sustained the brunt of the tornado, as did other local businesses like Freddy Kish's complete Car Care. Time Warner, of Waco. Right behind Coca-Cola, sustained minimal damage, and with a powerful generator, remained functional and able to provide services throughout the storm, for those that still had Power.

This storm hit a week after an F1 Tornado hit Eastern Waco, around Orchard and Kendall Lanes, near HW 77. That storm severely damaged a 2-Story house and killed 2 Horses, belonging to Baylor University.

10:06 AM  

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