Residents in a county in north Texas were stunned as they looked over their damaged homes on Sunday. A tornado had torn through the area near Valley View, a small community, leaving seven people dead.
Sheriff Ray Sappington described the scene as filled with debris in the region that borders Oklahoma. Among the victims were two children, ages 2 and 5, from Valley View, where only about 800 people reside. In one home, three family members were found dead.
The county experienced severe storms over the weekend, resulting in a total of 15 deaths across Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Many residents were left without electricity in these states.
Kevin Dorantes, 20, was away in Carrollton when he heard about the tornado approaching his neighborhood in Valley View, where he lived with his father and brother.
Destroyed homes (Via Joseph Black/Shutterstock)
He quickly called them, advising them to seek shelter in the bathroom without windows. Fortunately, they survived unharmed.
However, not everyone was as fortunate as Dorantes’ family.
While walking through the neighborhood afterward, Dorantes saw the aftermath: downed power lines and homes reduced to piles of rubble. He encountered a family whose house had been destroyed. A father and son were trapped under debris, and neighbors were working desperately to rescue them.
“They were conscious but seriously injured,” Dorantes said. “The father had a broken leg.”
With great effort, they managed to move the father onto a mattress and transport him by truck to an ambulance waiting at a nearby convenience store, along with his son.
