Powerful tornadoes in north Texas killed six and injured more than 100 others Wednesday night in a area west of the Dallas / Fort Worth region, marking the most destructive tornadoes to hit the U.S. this year.
The Los Angeles times reported at least 10 tornadoes ripped through three Texas counties, cutting a wide swath into a region where tornadoes are an annual occurrence.
The ferocity of the storm so early into the tornado season surprised officials, the Times reported. Homes were flattened and vehicles were lifted off the ground and tossed aside by the power of the storm system.
At least one tornado was listed as an EF-4, which means winds can reach 200 mph, according to a report by Fox News.
Two neighborhoods, Rancho Brazos Estates and DeCordova Ranch, in Granbury, a city of about 8,000, were the hardest hit. Roger Deeds, sheriff of Hood County, where Granbury is located, described the search for bodies in a news conference, saying bodies were found in and around houses.
Seven people are still reported missing.
"I've been assured by my deputies on the scene that they're pretty confident with the six that they found, but there was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we're going to have to search the area out there,"
Deeds said Hood County was hit by at least three tornadoes.
It's definitely a nightmare," he said. "We knew it was going to be a tough night in Hood County."
Utility officials say about 20,000 homes and businesses have lost electricity.
Rancho Brazos Estates resident Elizabeth Tovar told Fox News she rode out the tornado with her husband and sister as she clutched her 9-month-old daughter.
"We heard the winds whipping and glass smashing everywhere," said Tovar, 25. "I felt like a long time and when things died down I looked up and saw that the roof was gone."