'Boom, that was it': North Texas couple describes tornado destruction and how they found safety

COLLIN COUNTY, Texas — Juan and Juanita Encizo stood next to a destroyed home on their property near Celina on Sunday morning and were thankful.

“We’ve never dealt with this, and we never thought we would have to,” Juanita said. “But we’re alive. That’s what matters. Everything else can be replaced but not our lives.”

The Encizo family’s property was in the path of a powerful storm Saturday night, a reported tornado that moved through Cooke County and parts of Collin County. Dozens of injuries were reported and at least five people were confirmed dead from the storm, authorities said.

Juan’s and Juanita’s homes was spared, but the home where Juanita’s mother was staying was leveled, with nothing but the kitchen pantry left standing.

The Encizos told WFAA that their son helped get Juanita’s mother to safety Saturday night as the reported tornado headed their way. They thought about taking shelter in a nearby ditch before making it to a family member’s nearby home. 

“We got our son and took off next door,” Juan Encizo said. “Got in the closet and ‘Boom,’ that was it.”

The Encizo family has lived in three homes on the same property, where they’ve been since the early 1990s, they said. In those 30-plus years, they had never experienced a storm that brought as much damage as the one Saturday night.

“We’ll be good,” Juan Encizo said, but he acknowledged the surreal nature of what happened Saturday night. “You can’t believe it. It’s hard to describe. It’s pretty bad.”

A GoFundMe was created Sunday to help the family recover from the damage caused by the storm. You can donate here. 

More coverage of Saturday night’s severe storm: