EF-2 Tornado Kills 1, Destroys Homes in Runaway Bay as Texas Storm Outbreak Enters Sixth Day

An EF-2 tornado packing peak winds of 135 miles per hour ripped through the lake community of Runaway Bay in Wise County, Texas, on Saturday night, killing one resident and injuring at least six others as part of a sprawling severe-weather outbreak that has now killed at least 12 people across the central United States and that, as of Wednesday, has stretched into a sixth straight day of life-threatening storms.

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth confirmed the rating Sunday morning after sending a damage-survey crew to assess what locals described as the worst tornado in the area's living memory. The twister was at its peak more than half a mile wide. The most catastrophic damage occurred at a double-wide manufactured home that, according to NWS findings, was lifted from its foundation, carried roughly 100 yards downwind, and broken apart in mid-air, with debris fields stretching another several hundred yards beyond. The single fatality occurred at that residence; Wise County Judge J.D. Clark identified the deceased as a longtime Runaway Bay resident in his sixties whose family asked that his name be withheld pending notification of all relatives.

A second tornado, rated EF-1 by the NWS, touched down within an hour of the first in the city of Springtown, in neighboring Parker County, killing one person and injuring at least three more. State officials and Red Cross teams said roughly twenty families were displaced across the two counties Saturday and Sunday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday issued a disaster declaration for both Wise and Parker counties and dispatched the Texas Division of Emergency Management to coordinate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on individual assistance grants.

The Runaway Bay-Springtown event is one piece of an unusually violent April. The Storm Prediction Center has now logged more than 200 confirmed tornado reports nationwide for the month — well above the long-term average — with major outbreaks centered on April 17 and 18 in the Upper Midwest, where 83 tornadoes were ultimately confirmed, and a second outbreak sequence now in its sixth day across the southern Plains and the Mid-South. The Enid, Oklahoma, tornado of April 24 has been rated EF-3 with peak winds of 170 to 175 miles per hour, the strongest in the United States since June 2025, and damaged or destroyed roughly 40 homes.

Climate scientists at the University of Oklahoma's Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research told The Hill on Tuesday that the active spring is consistent with longer-term trends linked to a warming Gulf of Mexico, which is feeding the central United States more humid, unstable air earlier in the season than at any point in the modern record. Dr. Victor Gensini of Northern Illinois University, who tracks the north-eastward shift of "tornado alley" toward the Tennessee Valley, said the geographic distribution of the April events also fits the recent pattern of nighttime tornadoes striking populated areas with limited natural shelter.

Local recovery in Runaway Bay was already underway by midweek. Volunteer chainsaw teams from Parker, Wise, Tarrant, and Cooke counties had cleared the main thoroughfares by Monday, and crews from Oncor restored power to the last 1,200 customers Tuesday afternoon. The community's Trinity Bible Church opened as a shelter and donation hub, and the Texas Baptist Men's Disaster Relief mobilized a feeding unit capable of producing 4,000 hot meals a day. Insurance industry estimates put preliminary damage from the two North Texas tornadoes alone at $80 to $120 million, and from the broader six-day outbreak nationwide at well over $1 billion.

The Storm Prediction Center has issued a moderate risk for severe weather Wednesday night and a slight risk for Thursday, with the focus shifting east across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Forecasters at the NWS warned that the weakening but still potent storm system could produce more long-track tornadoes after dark. "If you live in this footprint," the agency said in a special statement Wednesday morning, "this is a night to know where your shelter is before you go to bed."