FORT WORTH, Texas — Multiple homes were damaged after a severe storm ripped through a north Fort Worth neighborhood that is full of young families.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a EF-1 tornado hit the Heritage Trace subdivision with winds up to 90 mph and traveled about half a mile.
Whatever the term, it was powerful enough to rip off some portions of roofs and snap through thick trees. In several places, fences with metal supports were pushed right over.
This afternoon, Fort Worth Parks & Recreation crews were already at work mulching debris and cutting down damaged trees. Neighbors were busy picking up shingles that had been flung into the street and making repairs to their property.
"I got chills. It was really an eerie feeling. That was a tornado in my backyard," said Kim Panquerne, who was inside with her 3-year-old son when the storm hit.
Panquerne's roof was damaged, as was her fence. They lost a shed in their backyard but were counting their blessings that there were no injuries in the neighborhood. School just let out for summer in this area, and many kids were playing outside when the sirens went off.
"Praise the Lord everyone's safe and we're all good," Panquerne said.
The storm hit the Heritage neighborhood that sits right on the line between Fort Worth and Keller. The worst damage in the neighborhood was on Oliver Drive, and one of the hardest-hit homes belongs to a family that was out of town. Neighbors said they were flying back from Orlando after a week-long vacation in Disney World. So their friends picked up their chainsaws and got to work, beginning the cleanup process for them until they can get back.
"Just don't want 'em to come back after a week to a big old mess, so we're all chipping in to help out. That's what we do," said neighbor Darrel Delgado.
Good neighbors came in smaller packages too. As folks were cleaning up, 7-year-old Tabitha and her sister were making the rounds. Their home wasn't damaged, but they wanted to help. They had a giant bag of Chick-fil-A sandwiches and gallons of sweet tea to give out to grateful neighbors.
