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Fatalities reported and dozens injured as tornado hits Canton, Texas Deaths reported and dozens injured as tornadoes hit east Texas 'hard and fast'
(about 2 hours later)
Fatalities have been reported and dozens of people taken to hospitals after a tornado hit a small city in East Texas, authorities said. Severe storms including tornadoes have swept through several small towns in east Texas, leaving a trail of overturned vehicles, mangled trees and damaged homes.
Canton fire department captain Brian Horton said in a news conference late Saturday that “a number of fatalities” were reported, but that it wasn’t yet clear how many, after powerful storms swept through the community earlier in the evening. Authorities believe as many as five people were killed and dozens injured, though they were still assessing the damage from the storms that swept through an area about 50 miles east of Dallas on Saturday evening.
The storms left behind a trail of overturned vehicles, mangled trees and damaged homes in and around Canton, which is about 50 miles east of Dallas. “We’re talking about I think maybe five casualties,” Canton fire captain Brian Horton said. “That number may go up ... once we can get into these areas.”
ETMC Regional Heathcare Systems hospitals in the region received at least 54 patients following the storm, including one person in critical condition, spokeswoman Rebecca Berkley said. She said the other patients suffered injuries that weren’t life-threatening. Video from local television stations showed uprooted trees and overturned cars along rural, wet roadways, along with at least two flattened homes. The tornado flipped pickup trucks at a Dodge dealership in Canton and tore through the business.
Horton asked that people who didn’t need to be in the area to stay out, “so that our teams can do what they need to do to take care of these people who are in need.” He noted that a triage center was set up at the local high school. Fifty-six people were treated at three hospitals and six remained hospitalized on Sunday morning, two of them in critical condition, ETMC Regional Health Care Systems spokeswoman Rebecca Berkley said.
The extent of the damage in the area was not immediately clear. But video from local television stations showed uprooted trees and overturned cars along rural, wet roadways, along with at least two flattened homes. The tornado flipped pickup trucks at a Dodge dealership in Canton and tore through the business. The National Weather Service confirmed at least three tornadoes swept through parts of three counties Saturday evening.
At least one tornado has been confirmed so far as having touched down in Canton, though several tornadoes were reported in the area, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Fox. Horton asked that people who didn’t need to be in the area to stay out, “so that our teams can do what they need to do to take care of these people who are in need”. He noted that a triage center was set up at the local high school.
Local resident Ernestine Cook told WFAA-TV that she rushed to a storm center just in time. One resident, Ernestine Cook, told Dallas television station WFAA she rushed to a storm center just in time.
“It hit so hard, so fast. It just kept moving,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it after 22 years of living here.”“It hit so hard, so fast. It just kept moving,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it after 22 years of living here.”
A dispatcher at the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office said officers were chasing numerous injury reports and declined further comment.