4 Killed in Violent Windstorm With Tornado in Houston Metro

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This storm will cause tremendous human suffering as some areas will be without power for at least a week as extreme thunderstorm-generated winds and 1 or 2 tornadoes moved through the Houston Metro.

Heat indices will be in the 90's Saturday and Sunday with no air conditioning in many areas. Some stores will not be able to open. 

Violent windstorm has moved through the Houston Metro and southeast Texas. As of 7:55pm CDT, there are 2.5 million people without power in southeast Texas, including Harris County (Houston).  FYI: the map shows "customers."
There were likely gusts (as estimated by radar) of 100+ mph to the south of the likely tornado's path. 

Windows blown out in downtown Houston. 

The above used to be the Enron Building. It had extensive window damage in 1983's Hurricane Alicia which produced similar winds in Houston. 

Via KPRC-TV, this apparent tornado was photographed in the Cypress area. A photo of the damage pattern, plus the rotation path on radar, indicates it was a tornado. 

The result is below:

Photos via CNN and Twitter

Channel 13, Houston

Per the National Weather Service's post-storm "damage indicators," the mean wind needed to collapse one of these towers is 140 mph. You can view it for yourself, here. 

Here is the radar at 6:03pm. The circle is the likely location of the tornado. The arrow shows the area where the Doppler wind data (not shown) was showing 125mph winds just below 3,000 ft above the ground. 



There were two areas where tornado(s) likely occurred. They are the white and white/blue paths oriented  to southeast. 
Delays at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport are currently 2.5 hours. 

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