Path of Destruction

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

A tornado in Kempner swept along F.M. 2313 on Monday afternoon, leaving a path of destruction in its short wake, felling trees, leveling barns and ripping roofs from homes. Four homes suffered roof damage, two barns were heavily damaged and a trailer was flipped upside down. Decades-old trees were ripped from the ground. The tornado headed northeast and covered a path of about 1.5 miles. Residents in that area have been without power since Monday, even as they began their cleanup.

 

Not long after that tornado was reported at 1:46 p.m., another warning kicked in for Copperas Cove and residents were instructed to take cover. At 2:06 p.m., a funnel cloud formed southwest of Pidcoke and developed into an EF-1 tornado, 600 yards wide, that traveled 5.7 miles and had winds of approximately 100-105 mph.

 

“We were on our back porch on Perryman Creek Road,” said Jennifer Newton. “We had just pulled up to the house from Copperas Cove and we watched it build up and took pictures. As it got closer we ran and took cover!” Newton had just enough time to take a series of photos with her cell phone as the funnel cloud was touching down beyond a ridge.

 

The tornado’s path continued to Pidcoke, between Copperas Cove and Gatesville, uprooting trees and damaging property, including most of the trees at the historic Pidcoke cemetery, before the tornado dissipated along Shell Mountain Road, said the NWS report. The Bee House Creek rose with the rainwater pouring over its banks of County Road 142.

 

Representatives from the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth came to Kempner as well as Pidcoke to study the storm damage and assess the tornadoes’ paths. During much of Monday afternoon, more than 7,000 were without power in Copperas Cove. There were no fatalities or reported injuries with either of the tornadoes.

 

Another tornado in Lampasas County was on the ground for approximately one minute on Monday, in the area of County Road 3050 and County Road 3070.

 

Most of central Texas remained under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. Monday. The watch area included Bell, Coryell, Falls, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan and Mills, Milam and Robertson Counties.

 

What has meant flooding and destruction for many parts of Texas has meant plenty of water for Texas lakes and reservoirs as the storm and flood waters begin to run off. As of Wednesday, Belton Lake was 100 percent full with a lake level of 596.88 feet. One year ago, the lake was only 75 percent full. Stillhouse Hollow Lake has risen more than 25 feet in the past month and is now 95.7 percent full at a level of 620.61 feet. A year ago, the lake was only 75.9.6 percent full.