Texas community picking up the pieces after destructive EF3 tornado
By
Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Mar 30, 2022 10:35 AM EDT
|
Updated Mar 30, 2022 10:35 AM EDT
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Jacksboro on March 28, where volunteers have come from states away to help the community rebuild.
Classes resumed once more Tuesday, March 28, in Jacksboro, Texas, one week after an EF3 tornado tore through the community, damaging two of the three schools in the district.
On Monday, March 21, severe weather charged through Texas, spawning multiple tornadoes across the state. An EF3 tornado with estimated peak winds of 140-150 mph tracked through Jack County, northwest of Fort Worth, injuring nine people and severely damaging at least 80 homes.
An EF3 tornado tore through Jack County, Texas, on Monday, March 21, damaging at least 80 homes. (AccuWeather / Bill Wadell)
Jacksboro Elementary School took a direct hit, with the National Weather Service reporting that the tornado tore off the roof of the gym, causing one wall to collapse, bending flagpoles to the ground and overturning cars among other damages.
The tornado would continue on to strike the high school in the area, ripping the roof from the building, damaging the press box at the stadium, bending the field goalposts and bending a lightpost to the ground, according to the NWS report.
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While the damage to the school buildings had rated as EF3- and EF2-rated damage respectively, no major injuries or fatalities were reported from the schools. Teachers are being credited for ushering the students into a designated safe hallway at the elementary school, where they weathered the storm.
“It’s really amazing when you think about two schools took direct hits with students in the building and nobody was injured, nobody was even injured to the point where they had to have serious medical attention that I know of, and so we were very grateful for that," Adam Lazarine, pastor at Live Oak Baptist Church, told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.
The tornado tore the roof from the Jacksboro High School's gym on Monday, March 21. (AccuWeather / Bill Wadell)
However, there were mixed feelings among the students and parents alike about returning to classes so soon after the event.
"There's still too much that we have to deal with," Mike Bryn, a parent, told CBS News. His son returned to school on Tuesday, though he had told Bryn that he needed another week.
Due to the damages that the elementary school sustained, the students will have to learn at other locations. Pre-K through 2nd grade will be taught at the First Baptist Church, 3rd grade inside the Masonic Lodge next to the church and 4th and 5th graders at the middle school.
Volunteers have been pouring into the community to help patch up damaged roofs, many from Texas though others traveling farther. Lazarine thanked disaster relief volunteers that came from as far away as Arkansas.
"It's amazed me. I didn't think there was that much good left in this world," Gary James, Jacksboro resident, told Bill Wadell. "My neighborhood is destroyed. There's two houses left on my street."
Time was of the essence, however, as crews worked to get ahead of the severe weather rolling through Texas this week, with repairing or covering damaged roofs taking top priority in order to prevent any additional wind and water damage.
Lazarine told Wadell that the return of severe weather so soon after last week's severe weather would be a test of nerves and faith in the area.
Reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Severe Weather
Texas community picking up the pieces after destructive EF3 tornado
By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Mar 30, 2022 10:35 AM EDT | Updated Mar 30, 2022 10:35 AM EDT
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Jacksboro on March 28, where volunteers have come from states away to help the community rebuild.
Classes resumed once more Tuesday, March 28, in Jacksboro, Texas, one week after an EF3 tornado tore through the community, damaging two of the three schools in the district.
On Monday, March 21, severe weather charged through Texas, spawning multiple tornadoes across the state. An EF3 tornado with estimated peak winds of 140-150 mph tracked through Jack County, northwest of Fort Worth, injuring nine people and severely damaging at least 80 homes.
An EF3 tornado tore through Jack County, Texas, on Monday, March 21, damaging at least 80 homes. (AccuWeather / Bill Wadell)
Jacksboro Elementary School took a direct hit, with the National Weather Service reporting that the tornado tore off the roof of the gym, causing one wall to collapse, bending flagpoles to the ground and overturning cars among other damages.
The tornado would continue on to strike the high school in the area, ripping the roof from the building, damaging the press box at the stadium, bending the field goalposts and bending a lightpost to the ground, according to the NWS report.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
While the damage to the school buildings had rated as EF3- and EF2-rated damage respectively, no major injuries or fatalities were reported from the schools. Teachers are being credited for ushering the students into a designated safe hallway at the elementary school, where they weathered the storm.
“It’s really amazing when you think about two schools took direct hits with students in the building and nobody was injured, nobody was even injured to the point where they had to have serious medical attention that I know of, and so we were very grateful for that," Adam Lazarine, pastor at Live Oak Baptist Church, told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.
The tornado tore the roof from the Jacksboro High School's gym on Monday, March 21. (AccuWeather / Bill Wadell)
However, there were mixed feelings among the students and parents alike about returning to classes so soon after the event.
"There's still too much that we have to deal with," Mike Bryn, a parent, told CBS News. His son returned to school on Tuesday, though he had told Bryn that he needed another week.
Due to the damages that the elementary school sustained, the students will have to learn at other locations. Pre-K through 2nd grade will be taught at the First Baptist Church, 3rd grade inside the Masonic Lodge next to the church and 4th and 5th graders at the middle school.
Volunteers have been pouring into the community to help patch up damaged roofs, many from Texas though others traveling farther. Lazarine thanked disaster relief volunteers that came from as far away as Arkansas.
"It's amazed me. I didn't think there was that much good left in this world," Gary James, Jacksboro resident, told Bill Wadell. "My neighborhood is destroyed. There's two houses left on my street."
Time was of the essence, however, as crews worked to get ahead of the severe weather rolling through Texas this week, with repairing or covering damaged roofs taking top priority in order to prevent any additional wind and water damage.
Lazarine told Wadell that the return of severe weather so soon after last week's severe weather would be a test of nerves and faith in the area.
Reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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