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Devastating event
The horrific and historic tornado that killed six people last Wednesday evening in the Ranch Brazos subdivision leveled home after home, and even blew several completely off foundations.
It was reportedly the deadliest tornado in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area since a 1957 Dallas twister killed 10.
There were 28 injured people who went to Lake Granbury Medical Center seeking medical treatment.… Read the rest
‘I’m going with you’: Wife clutches husband as tornado threatens to rip him away
“Our Father who art in Heaven. Hallowed be Thy name.”
In two bathrooms at the Parsons home on Tumbleweed Lane near the Rancho Brazos Community Center, reciting the Lord’s prayer was the only thing the terrified family knew to do as an EF-4 tornado slammed full force into the four-bedroom brick home.
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…”
On Sunday afternoon, Marlene Parsons of Quinlan recounted what happened to her son, Eddie, his wife, Bobi, and her grandsons Avery and Anthony the evening that a nightmare dropped straight out of the sky.… Read the rest
Love story to the end
Like any other couple deeply in love, Robert Whitehead and his wife of 47 years couldn’t always be together.
He took a one-week leave from the Army to marry Glenda before being going overseas to fight in the war in the mid-1960s. Recently, Glenda had been spending time caring for her mother in a nursing home in Crowley and often couldn’t get back to their home in the Rancho Brazos subdivision until around midnight.… Read the rest
Helping the victims
A volunteer with Operation Blessing International, a nonprofit whose mission is to alleviate human need and suffering, finds a set of keys and a family photo while helping to sift through rubble at Rancho Brazos. Operating Blessing is just one of many volunteer groups that came to Hood County’s aid.… Read the rest
Federal aid efforts under way for tornado victims
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway and other high level state officials came to Hood County late last week to view tornado-ravaged Rancho Brazos, as the process for seeking federal aid got under way.
“The houses will be rebuilt,” Perry vowed at a press conference at Rancho Brazos Friday afternoon.
He stood at a podium amidst the rubble. An American flag hanging from the jagged branches of a tree served as a backdrop.… Read the rest
Tornado damages Pecan homes
This residence, in the 8800 block of Ravenswood Road, was one of four homes in Pecan Plantation that sustained major damage from last Wednesday evening’s storms that ripped through Hood County. One business also had major damage, according to Pecan Fire Chief Dave Raffa. About 15 homes in the gated community southeast of Granbury had at least minor damage, but there were no reports of injuries there, he said.… Read the rest
Hood County ravaged by killer tornado
In the aftermath of the deadly tornado that destroyed homes and lives within seconds, many people chose the same words to describe the devastation: war zone.
The neighborhood of Rancho Brazos, a monument to compassion with its more than 60 Habitat for Humanity homes and a church-built community center, was leveled Wednesday night by a force every bit as powerful as a bomb.… Read the rest
Six dead in tornado; homes leveled
Note: This story was printed prior to an announcement Friday afternoon by the Hood County Sheriff’s Department that everyone has been accounted for from the areas devastated by tornadoes.
Sheriff Roger Deeds summed up one of Hood County’s worst natural calamities with four words.
“It’s definitely a nightmare,” Deeds said after six people were found dead in Wednesday’s tornado that demolished most of the Rancho Brazos subdivision east of Granbury and captured worldwide attention.… Read the rest
‘I saw the tornado coming for us’
One minute, Ronna Cotten was watching a spring shower with her two daughters and their friend. The next, she was fighting with all the strength she had to keep them alive.
Cotten, who lives in a Habitat for Humanity home in Rancho Brazos, struggled to keep a grip on the doorknob of the hall closet where the three girls were screaming in terror as powerful winds threatened to suck them into the blackened sky Wednesday evening.… Read the rest
Billie Sol Estes dies
Billie Sol Estes, a Texas wheeler-dealer who made national news after being convicted on federal and state fraud charges, died in his home in deCordova Tuesday morning at age 88, according to the Sheriff’s Office, which investigated after receiving a phone call.
“Deputies discovered that Billie Sol Estes has passed away in his recliner chair and was discovered by family, who called law enforcement,” Lieutenant Johnny Rose stated.… Read the rest
