Garland, Texas was one of the hardest hit areas in North Texas. The tornado picked up vehicles and moved them, sometimes yards from their original position.
By James Hartley
MESQUITE, TX– Eastfield College is hosting a tornado recovery conference on Tuesday, Jan. 26 with seminars on subjects like dealing with insurance companies and getting access to aid for tornado victims as well as sessions on how to get involved in recovery.
Go to www.eastfieldcollege.edu/tornadorelief/tornado-relief-information-sessions for the schedule on the conference. Visit Eastfield’s website for more information about tornado relief efforts at www.eastfieldcollege.edu/tornadorelief.
Thousands of North Texans were affected by nine tornados that hit the state on Dec. 26, 2015. Garland, Rowlett and Sunnyvale were among areas that felt the effects of the tornados.
Photos by James Hartley/The Et Cetera.
Garland, Texas was one of the hardest hit areas in North Texas. The tornado picked up vehicles and moved them, sometimes yards from their original position.
The tornado in Garland lifted and moved cars, sometimes on top of houses.
Garland residents worked hard to gather what they could from their houses, but the destruction made it difficult.
A second floor view reveals a different perspective of the destruction in Rowlett.
A destroyed home lost its second floor walls and the roof, while the furniture sits untouched in the bedroom.
Insulation pours out of a destroyed Rowlett home.
The tornado moved quickly through neighborhoods. Residents said they only felt and heard the tornado for a couple of seconds before it was gone.
Tornados tore through neighborhoodd, indiscriminately destroying everything in their paths.
A service dog secured to a fencepost watches volunteers as they remove debris from houses on Davis St. in Rowlett.
Many residents of tornado affected areas lost everything they owned, whether due to the tornado or the damaging rains that dominated the days after.
Damage on homes and businesses caused by the Dec. 26 tornados varied from what residents described as homes being “taken off the slab” to a broken window, sometimes with the two right next to each other.
The neighborhoods near Dalrock in Rowlett saw many homes damaged in the Dec. 26 tornados. After the tornados, homeowners gathered as much as they could from the debris before being forced out of their neighborhoods due to safety concerns.
Rowlett and Garland police patrolled neighborhoods to help ensure the safety of residents and volunteers as the neighborhoods were reopened.
Community members flooded Lake Centennial High School with donations the week following the Dec. 26, 2015 tornados, causing the school to close the donations, diverting them to local churches.
The Baptist and Methodist churches in Rowlett took and distributed donations to anyone affected during the weeks following the Dec. 26 tornados. They took new clothes, toiletries, food and water, as well as board games and toys for children.
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