San Antonio Tornado on Move, Threatens Homes
A tornado struck unsuspecting citizens on Monday night in San Antonio, damaging multiple homes and prompting officials to issue flash flood warnings.
A tornado hit 25 miles southwest of San Antonio on Monday night and headed towards the city center while destroying a mass of rural homes along the way. The towns of Natalia and Lytle received the most damage and many people were injured, although an official count has not been released.
"We have multiple homes damaged, several homes were taken by this tornado," Roy Bermudez, a deputy with the Medina County Sheriff's Office told Reuters Tuesday morning.
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Following the storm, a flash flood warning was issued in areas of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Power outages within San Antonio have affected an estimated 23,000 homes.
"The flooding rains come at a time when south and central Texas are still in the grips of a drought that began early in 2011. It developed into the state's worst one-year drought ever," Reuters reported.
Edwards Aquifer Authority, which manages the region's water supply, suggested that the storm could be helpful in the long run.
"The more water we can get now the better off we'll be down the road, later on this year," Roland Ruiz, Assistant General Manager of the company, told Reuters.
The storm however, could cause panic for some who are unequipped to deal with such large amounts of rain in such a short period of time.
"There's really no amount of dry ground that can take up to 10 inches of rain in a couple day timeframe," B.J. Simpson, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told the Huffington Post.
A tornado watch has now been put into effect beginning in far east and south east Texas and heading towards Louisiana.
