'I don't ever want to go through it again' | Families clean up after tornado touches down in Burnet County

BURNET COUNTY, Texas — On Friday morning, people living in Burnet County got a better look at the extent of the damage left behind after a tornado touched down the day before. 

Officials confirmed the twister touched the ground just before 5 p.m. in the area of County Road 223 before moving south. Emergency Management officials with the county said two homes were destroyed, four were damaged and one person inside of a vehicle was hurt. 

Karen Peck said this was her first encounter with a tornado, and she hopes it will be her last. She and her husband had a tree land on their roof, which he pulled out with his pick-up truck. 

Peck said roof tiles also flew off and their background was in ruin. 

“I don’t ever want to go through it again,” Peck said.

Peck said she and her husband were outside when they started seeing items flying and ran inside to take cover.

“You could just hear the wind, you know, rustle through the door and the windows. And it was just horrifying,” she said.

County Judge Bryan Wilson said volunteer firefighters, road crews and two county commissioners, along with their staff, cleared debris and cleaned the road. A team with the National Weather Service was also out surveying the damage on Friday.

“Our people are our main concern,” Wilson said. “If they need assistance, they can call the fire department, call EMS, call 911, and we’re ready to help any way we can.”

Raymond Elmore said his ranch was devastated with split trees and ruined land. 

“If you’ve ever been in this area before, the trees were beautiful before this,” Elmore said. “There’s going to be a lot of cleanup.”

Ahead of Friday’s expected storms, Elmore said he and his wife are as prepared as they can be, but noted that a tornado isn’t something you can ever really be prepared for. 

He’s just grateful crews came out to help as quickly as they did.