Search concludes after tornadoes kill 10 in Texas, Mexico

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) - Dozens of search and rescue crews completed Wednesday their examination of the mangled remains of houses and trailer homes ripped by tornadoes that killed at least 10 people in this border community and its Mexican neighbor.

Maverick County Judge Jose Aranda said all residents of the storm-struck areas just outside Eagle Pass were accounted for. But between 50 and 200 families were left homeless, he said.

Tornadoes Tuesday night cut across a nearly 4-square-mile area, destroying two empty elementary schools, a church, businesses and homes. And although all the people had been found, several mobile homes were still missing Wednesday. About 80 people on each side of the border were injured.

The dead included a family of five: a young girl, her parents and two other family members - all killed when the wind tumbled their mobile home across the street and slammed it into Rosita Valley Elementary School.

"It was a whole family, and they were all together, probably like they were huddling," said police Officer Ezekiel Navjas, who arrived at the scene Tuesday evening just as crews were pulling from the wreckage the bloody body of the girl, believed to be between 4 and 6 years old.

"I've never seen nothing like this," he said, shaking his head as walked down a dirt road between homes cut open like doll houses, twisted metal sheeting and mesquite treetops twisted from their trunks.

Neither Eagle Pass, nor its twin Mexican city, Piedras Negras, had a siren warning system like those used to help people evacuate ahead of the storm when it hit North Texas.

Aranda said the damage estimate would be in the millions of dollars in the community whose economy depends on border-crossing and the Kickapoo tribe's Lucky Eagle casino. The elementary school alone was worth between $6 million and $7 million, he said.

Aranda said Eagle Pass is a working-class town, so the loss of a home is particularly difficult.

"These are people that have built their homes a little at a time. They probably don't have a mortgage, but they don't have insurance either," he said.

The other two deaths on the U.S. side of the storm were caused by a house collapsing, authorities said. One was found dead in the wreckage of the house, the other died after arriving at a San Antonio hospital.

In all, 81 people were taken to Eagle Pass's only hospital, though most were discharged with minor injuries. Four remained in critical condition Wednesday.

Across the Rio Grande in Piedras Negras, three people were killed and 300 homes were damaged. About 1,000 people sought refuge in shelters in Piedras Negras, where 37 people died in flash flooding three years ago.

About 350 residents from Eagle Pass were in shelters and were being kept from their homes until rescuers could complete their search of the area.

Search teams made up of police, firefighters, Border Patrol agents and National Guard soldiers were picking their way through homes, knocking on doors, calling out to residents and marking searched buildings with spray-painted "X's" like those used by searchers in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Gov. Rick Perry arrived for a tour in the late afternoon. He said he was pleased with the response of the local, state and federal officials, and said the state has asked the federal government for expedited assistance and a disaster declaration.

"I don't know how we got through this with the loss of only seven lives," he said. "It is stunning, the devastation."

Eagle Pass resident Ricardo Tijerina, who rode out the storm with his six children in a house near the school, said he saw the storm roll in but didn't expect anything worse than a typical spring storm.

"I saw some clouds, but I never imagined it was going to be that bad," said Tijerina, whose children, ages 5-15, crowded under their beds while he watched a neighbor's trailer roll off its foundation.

He and another neighbor went out in the wind to make sure everyone in the neighbor's trailer was OK, but the family, with seven children, was not home when the tornado hit, he said.

After the tornado passed, neighbors poured onto the darkened streets checking for anyone who needed help, said Eglanteina Alamillo, 20. "You could hear everyone was walking around and helping people get out of the trailers," she said.

Navjas said he and other rescuers worked as long as they could Tuesday night. He finally went home for a couple hours of sleep after his flashlight went out around 4 a.m.

"I really didn't want to leave," he said.

School was canceled Wednesday in Eagle Pass, a border city of about 26,000 about 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. Aranda said 850 students would be reassigned to other schools.

The tornado hit near Eagle Pass at about 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. There were reports that the other tornado blew threw Piedras Negras later that night, but it was unclear when it touched down.

The weather service confirmed three tornadoes Tuesday in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where roofs were peeled off homes and streets were flooded from two doses of severe storms that hit about six hours apart.

In Denton County, heavy winds blew the metal roof off a restaurant and damaged several mobile homes and a commercial building under construction, said Roland Asebedo, assistant chief for Denton County's Emergency Services. No injuries were reported.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines had about 200 flights canceled because of weather in Dallas, spokesman Billy Sanez said. The airline also diverted about 80 flights bound for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to other airports, including San Antonio.

Ken Capps, vice president of public affairs at DFW airport, said the airport's flight control tower was temporarily evacuated Tuesday night but the airport remained open.

Weather canceled 160 of about 950 departing flights Tuesday, and cots were provided for stranded passengers, airport officials said.