HOUSTON: A powerful storm system targeted the Gulf Coast Tuesday, spawning a tornado that caused damage east of Houston.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado emergency for the area, warning that an “extremely dangerous and potentially deadly large tornado” was on the ground Tuesday afternoon and was tracking toward Baytown, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east. east of Houston. The warning expired when the system moved east.
There were downed power lines and damage to homes and businesses in Baytown, but no serious injuries were reported, Baytown spokesman Jason Calder said.
Footage from Houston television station KTRK showed damage to buildings and power lines in Pasadena, a city southeast of Houston. No injuries were reported immediately.
The PowerOutage.us website, which collects live data on power outages from utilities across the United States, reported that about 123,000 Texas customers were without power Tuesday afternoon, mostly in the Houston area and surrounding counties.
It was the start of what was expected to be a stormy day along the Gulf Coast. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, declared the areas along the coast of Houston to the Florida Panhandle could see tornadoes, strong winds and hail on Tuesday.
The storm system also brought snow and ice to much of the central United States.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado emergency for the area, warning that an “extremely dangerous and potentially deadly large tornado” was on the ground Tuesday afternoon and was tracking toward Baytown, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east. east of Houston. The warning expired when the system moved east.
There were downed power lines and damage to homes and businesses in Baytown, but no serious injuries were reported, Baytown spokesman Jason Calder said.
Footage from Houston television station KTRK showed damage to buildings and power lines in Pasadena, a city southeast of Houston. No injuries were reported immediately.
The PowerOutage.us website, which collects live data on power outages from utilities across the United States, reported that about 123,000 Texas customers were without power Tuesday afternoon, mostly in the Houston area and surrounding counties.
It was the start of what was expected to be a stormy day along the Gulf Coast. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, declared the areas along the coast of Houston to the Florida Panhandle could see tornadoes, strong winds and hail on Tuesday.
The storm system also brought snow and ice to much of the central United States.
