IRVING, TX (1080 KRLD) - The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Irving yesterday.
In an EF-1, winds reach a max between 105 and 110mph. It was enough to tear half the storefront off the Autos of Dallas car dealership.
“We heard this rumbling, so I told everybody to go get in the back,” says David Mullins, General Manager of the dealership. “The windows were just fluctuating from all the pressure and the wind. As soon as we were in the door … that facade fell over against the glass. It was pretty scary.”
As bad as it looks, he says most of the damage is superficial. The store is open today, even though it’s missing half its storefront, it’s still structurally sound. A contractor is already hard at work and they expect to be fully repaired within a couple of days.
Aside from some water damage, the inside of the store is unharmed.
“We’re very blessed,” Mullins says. “Nobody got hurt. Damage can be fixed, but people can’t.”
About ten minutes down the road, the Garden Grove Townhomes on Shady Grove Road were also getting battered by the storms.
The roof was ripped off at least seven units, making them unlivable for the time being. Today, pieces of roof are still dangling off the sides of the building. Some chunks fell onto cars in the parking lot below, crunching metal and shattering glass.
Many of the people living in these apartments don’t speak English, but 11-year-old Stefanie was able to translate for her family.
“We are sad, we are cold,” she said. “We don’t know what to do.”
She says for now, they’re living in a hotel. At the very least, the family is grateful nobody got hurt.
A nearby fence was obliterated and debris is littered across the lawn near the townhomes. But houses and buildings nearby look completely untouched.
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