NWS confirms EF-0 tornado hit Mesquite

MESQUITE, Texas – The National Weather Service confirms the damage done to several homes in Mesquite Saturday morning was caused by an EF-0 tornado.

The National Weather Service reported winds between 75-85 mph, and many Mesquite residents are now cleaning up the damage left behind.

Homeowners say they woke up at 7 a.m. to strong winds and broken glass.

The damage was done in just seconds, but it’ll take months to clean up.

“I heard it get louder,” said Derrian Forge, whose home was damaged in the storm. “Next thing you know, I heard my mom and my mom’s boyfriend come in the room and said, ‘Derrian. Get down, get down, get down.’”

It’s the first day of Forge’s spring break back home from college.

But instead of enjoying his break, he woke up to a storm destroying his family’s home on Allen Dr.

Most of their roof was ripped off, and the family says a piece crashed through their ceiling.

”The roof was leaking,” Forge said. “My mom said go to the garage and get a bucket. Opened the door, the garage is gone, completely gone.

Down the street, Genevieve Freeman-Massa had her home destroyed by the storm. She and her family had just moved back home after spending months in a hotel because of foundation issues.

“I was afraid of dying because where my bed was,” Freeman-Massa said. “The windows shattered over our bed.”

Her home has roof damage, shattered windows, and trees down. Her family was told they can’t go inside the home for safely reasons.

“I really don’t know what to say, I really don’t know. It’s devastating,” she added.

Nearby, part of the roof blew off Emmanuel Pentocostal Church, and reports from police say some metal from the roof ended up on I-635.

Near Kim Ln. and Jessica Ln., stop signs were blown down, roofs ripped off, fences were knocked down, and windows shattered.

“And you can see how far the glass came,” said Chaney Clemnds, whose home was damaged by the storms. “The clap of thunder was loud enough to shake the entire house. It shook the house and that’s when I heard the glass crashing and you could hear it from that back bedroom. It was really loud.”

Despite the damage to multiple homes, there have not been any reported injuries.