Tornado Emergency in Texas as Severe Weather Moves East - The New York Times

U.S.|Tornado Emergency successful Texas arsenic Severe Weather Moves East

A wintertime tempest processing crossed the South connected Tuesday volition bring the hazard of terrible storms to implicit 15 cardinal radical surviving on the Gulf Coast, including successful Houston, New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center warned radical successful the portion connected Tuesday to expect perchance damaging winds and beardown tornadoes.

A tornado exigency informing was issued by the Houston National Weather Service this day for a ample and highly unsafe tornado confirmed by radar successful southeastern Harris County. It was the archetypal connected grounds for the agency’s Houston office, meteorologists said.

The terrible tempest menace volition proceed to determination eastbound on the Gulf Coast done the evening.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said helium had directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to hole the state’s effect resources, adding that the authorities astatine each level were astatine the ready. At slightest 3 twelve flights were canceled and hundreds were delayed astatine George Bush Intercontinental Airport successful Houston, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking company.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for suburbs of eastbound of Houston astir 2:30 section time. A tornado exigency is “an exceedingly uncommon tornado informing issued erstwhile determination is simply a terrible menace to quality beingness and catastrophic harm from an imminent oregon ongoing tornado,” according to the Weather Service.

In Pasadena, Texas, a suburb southeast of Houston, the city’s constabulary section said connected Twitter that constabulary officers and the occurrence section were assisting radical who were affected by a tornado that touched down connected the southeast broadside of Pasadena. The section warned that “dozens of calls” were coming successful and assistance mightiness instrumentality longer than expected.

In Louisiana, the governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness tweeted messages astir tempest safety. “We look different terrible upwind menace this week,” the bureau said, urging residents to stay alert. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency sent akin messages astir tempest preparation.

The hazard for terrible upwind volition determination to the eastbound Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Coast connected Wednesday into Thursday. Cites on the East Coast from Norfolk, Va., to Jacksonville, Fla., could spot tornadoes aboriginal this week.

Large hail is besides a hazard arsenic these storms propulsion through.

New Orleans was deed by a deadly tornado past period arsenic a bid of storms swept the South. And past March, two tornadoes touched down successful the country astir the city, sidesplitting astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic and leaving a way of demolition successful their wake.

Derrick Bryson Taylor and Jesus Jiménez contributed reporting.