Among the tornados that ripped through Texas and Oklahoma on Monday was one that terrified shoppers at a Walmart in Round Rock, Texas, who were shown on video fleeing their cars and running into the store as debris was hurled everywhere through the air around them, with one man shouting, “Get inside! Get inside! Run! Run! Run!”
“A confirmed tornado reached the ground in Luling, between Austin and San Antonio, according to the National Weather Service,” USA TODAY reported. “Another touched down in Round Rock, north of Austin, the Williamson County Office of Emergency Management said, in addition to a ‘massive tornado’ east of Round Rock, near Taylor. Wind and downed trees tore through the roofs of dozens of Round Rock houses and a few businesses east of Interstate 35 and north of Texas 45.”
Michael Talamantez of Round Rock, whose house was destroyed, said, “I thought I was going to die.”
The entire roof of the Jacksboro High School gymnasium was torn off. Jacksboro High School Principal Starla Sanders told Fox 26 Houston that she had been informed her home’s roof was torn off. She stated, “It just brought tears to my eyes. I have lived here for 15 years, and I love this place. It is hard. … Haven’t seen, but I hear I don’t have a roof on my own house. My kids are safe, and my husband is safe and all the students are safe. That is what is important.”
“In Oklahoma, a quarter-mile-wide tornado reportedly hit the southern city of Kingston around 6:30 p.m., creating a nearly 1,300-foot-long path of destruction,” The New York Post reported.
“The storms hit much of northern Texas on Monday and are expected to move into the Deep South as well as spreading east on Tuesday,” The Daily Mail noted. “A total of 30 million people are at risk of possible tornadoes on Tuesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). … People were reportedly trapped in collapsed structures in Bowie, 30 miles northeast of Jacksboro … At least four people were injured, including at least one hospitalization and a rescue was underway for two people in a collapsed structure in Elgin, east of Austin.”
“In Sherwood Shores, one person has been confirmed dead by DPS. Grayson County Emergency Management reported five patients taken to Texoma Medical Center and two patients taken to Wilson N. Jones,” KTEN reported.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Monday night Texas would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the victims of the tornadoes, adding, “We know there are many people whose lives have been completely disrupted and people who’ve lost their homes.”
Video of a truck that was blown over on its side then blown right-side up again in Elgin, Texas:
Crazy day today. Would have seen the Round Rock tornado if I just stayed where I took my nap earlier and was my initial target. This is the tornado that passed by Elgin, TX. https://t.co/YKoqYw6Qmg
— Brian Emfinger (@brianemfinger) March 22, 2022
— BoatDad (@richcmaxwell) March 22, 2022