Red Cross Responding to Texas Tornadoes and Floods - Updated 07/20/15 9:45AM

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The American Red Cross continues to help residents across Texas affected by an ongoing severe weather outbreak, which included multiple tornadoes and widespread flooding. 

If you were impacted by the storms and need Red Cross assistance, please call this hotline number:
1-800-REDCROSS

The following shelters are open for anyone needing a safe place to stay:


Gulf Coast:

• Gulf Coast Shelter List Here

Central and South Texas Shelters:

• Central & South Texas Shelter List Here

 

If you are looking for a loved one in the area, please visit our Safe and Well registry at RedCross.org/SafeandWell or call 1-800-REDCROSS. 

If you want to help, visit RedCross.org/Donate
or call 1-800-REDCROSS 

Follow @RedCrossDFW on Twitter or Facebook for updates.

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Tex Versus the Tornado

by Suzanne Wiley, volunteer contributor

Van resident Tex, who was injured during the Van tornado
is comforted by a Red Cross nurse. Photo Credit: CBS11

I stood outside the American Red Cross shelter with Van resident, Tex. As he was telling me his story, he looked up at the sky, pointed and said, “That’s what worries me.” I looked up to where he was pointing at the darkening, thick clouds looming over the Van water tower. “We don’t need any more of that.”  

What you can’t see from the shelter is the destruction from the 700-yards wide tornado that struck the small town just a few blocks away from where we were standing.

Tex and his wife were both injured by flying debris during the tornado, but despite the physical pain and shock of what had happened, he shared his story.

Around 8:15, Tex’s wife received a storm alert on her phone and very shortly after, Van’s tornado warning sirens started blaring. Tex and his wife left their trailer home for their daughter’s house. He remembers the wind and the hail. Tex looks me straight in the eyes and tells me that as soon as they arrived at their daughter’s house, “Whamo!” The tornado had hit.

Miraculously, after the tornado passed, Tex, his wife and six others were alive. They found themselves somehow landing on top of all the lumber that used to be the house. The tornado took the whole house.

By the time I had met Tex he already become a local celebrity. Anxious to meet him, he told me he had already signed one autograph already. All the local news outlets had interviewed him on camera. As we were talking about what happens next for him and his family, an old friend stopped by to joke with Tex about how he didn’t win the fight. Someone responded, “Oh yeah, you should see that two by four!”

The lightheartedness of the joke made everyone smile. The people of Van need smiles. But in all seriousness, the people of Van know firsthand that weather doesn’t joke around. Fortunately, for Tex and his family, he did win this particular fight.

To download the free tornado alert app from the Red Cross, visit http://www.redcross.org/mobile-apps/tornado-app/setup-alerts.

To donate to aid in relief efforts, visit RedCross.org/Donate.

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