Photo: GoFundMe
Two brothers, ages 3 and 8, are the youngest reported victims of a string of deadlytornadoes that ripped through the Southover the weekend, according to multiple reports.
At least 17 tornadoes wreaked havoc on several states from Texas to Alabama and killed eight people, including Jace Creel, 3, and Dilynn Creel, 8, two young brothers who were pronounced dead after a tree fell on their family’s car Saturday afternoon in Pollock, Texas, according toNBC NewsandReuters.
The family was heading home and trying to get out of the storm when they came across a tree blocking their path,KETK reported. They tried to avoid the tree when another fell onto the back of the family’s car, where Jace and Dilynn were seated.
“I said, ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong?'” Joe Spangler, a neighbor who responded to the accident, told KETK of the boys’ mother. “She said, ‘Please help me. A tree is on my car. My babies are in the car, my babies are in the car.’ I saw her husband. He was running back and forth around a car, trying to move the limb which, I mean, it wasn’t going to be moved.”
Laura McKenzie/College Station Eagle via AP
“That’s not the right order for a parent to bury their child,” Spangler told the station.
A family friend, Kirsten Redd, hasset up a GoFundMe pagefor the family.
“They were the most outstanding, respectful, happy, joyful children, you could ever imagine,” Redd told KETK.
Central Elementary Principal Anita Byrd shared on Facebook that the 8-year-old boy was a2nd-grade studentat her school.
At least 17 counties are dealing with storm damage,according to AccuWeather, and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency on Sunday and gathered emergency management teams to assess the damages. Dozens have been injured as a result of the storm system, AccuWeather reported.
An EF-3 tornado touched down in Franklin, Texas, destroying 55 homes, four businesses, a church, a duplex and part of a local housing authorities building, the AP reported.
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed to PEOPLE that a 70-year-old woman, whom police have identified as Kathryn Baxter, died from storm-related debris at her home located in the eastern part of the Texas county.
More than 150,000 were left without power across Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri and Alabama,ABC News reported. Tornado watches have been issued for Virginia, Pennsylvania, most of North Carolina and West Virginia as well as parts of Ohio and New York,Reuters reported.
source: people.com
