Two dead as tornadoes rip through North Texas homes, power lines
Two people were killed and at least 20 families displaced as an EF-2 tornado and an EF-1 tore through Wise and Parker counties, leaving homes wrecked and power lines down.
Severe weather carved a deadly path across North Texas, killing two people, displacing at least 20 families and leaving neighborhoods in Wise and Parker counties searching for answers about what failed and what held.
National Weather Service survey teams later confirmed two tornadoes in the storm system that moved through the region Saturday night and was reported Sunday, April 26, 2026. An EF-2 tornado hit the Runaway Bay area of Wise County with peak winds of 135 mph, while an EF-1 tornado struck near Springtown in Parker County with winds around 105 mph. Officials said the destruction spread across multiple neighborhoods and damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes in Runaway Bay alone.
The loss of life was concentrated in two places that now sit at the center of the recovery. Wise County officials said one person died there and at least six people were treated for injuries. In Parker County, officials identified the victim as a 69-year-old woman found dead in a badly damaged mobile home south of Springtown, outside the city limits. The damage underscored the vulnerability of mobile homes and lightly built housing in communities where development has pushed deeper into open land and exposed more families to severe weather.
Wise County Judge J.D. Clark issued a disaster declaration after the storm and said he would request a similar declaration from Gov. Greg Abbott. Clark said access to the hardest-hit areas was difficult because roads were blocked and utilities were down. Officials set up a reunification center in Runaway Bay and opened a shelter in Springtown as the American Red Cross and other aid groups moved in to help displaced residents.
Power restoration will likely be among the first tests of the region’s recovery. Oncor said winds exceeded 80 mph across parts of North Texas and damaged electric equipment, leaving thousands without power. The outages added another layer of strain for families whose homes were already compromised, and they highlighted how quickly a tornado can turn a housing emergency into an infrastructure crisis.
The storm came during an active late-April severe-weather stretch that has already kept North Texas under threat from hail, tornadoes and destructive winds. For Wise County and Parker County, the damage now raises a familiar but urgent question: whether warning systems, shelter options and building standards are keeping pace with the speed and spread of severe weather across fast-growing communities.
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