>> oh, garland was devastated. >> but garland's not cowed, and neither is roy.o the buckaroos have enough grit left in their boots? and why does it take so long for roy jr. to open roy sr.'s locked gun safes? >> i think that was one of his final practical jokes on me. >> next -- two strange inheritance stories come together. >> here's another quiz question for you. the .405 winchester was a favorite of which american president? the answer when we return. >> so, the .405 winchester was a favorite of which of these presidents? it's teddy roosevelt. the powerful rifle was one of t.r.'s favorites. after taking it on safari in africa, he called it "the medicine gun for lions." >> beautiful day. in the early 2000s, garland richards is trying to restore his strange inheritance, fort chadbourne, a frontier army outpost that has sat in ruins on his family's west texas land for over a century. >> i always describe it as jumping off in the raging water and swimming your way out. >> garland enlists the help of his old buddy roy roberson sr., but he needs money, too -- a lot

we're praying for those that lost their loved ones in garland. you can get a new building but you can't replace family members. >> well, we hope you can all gather yourselves together and repair the damage. certainly the damage is something that can be repaired. the lives lost, certainly not. kevin, thank you very much. we appreciate you coming on. >> thank you so much. >> our thoughts and prayers to pastor taylor and for those that are going through what they are going through right now. >>> meanwhile, iraqi forces are claiming victory over terrorists in ramadi after taking control of a government complex in the central part of the city. at the same time, military officials say the next step is to try to clear up pockets of resistance from the remaining fighters that could be there. they are putting up a tough fight. slowing the advance of the iraqi government troops. we'll have more on this important development, what it means and what could come next. a former adviser to four u.s. ambassadors to the united nations on what this means in our fig

what does the community of garland know right now? obviously the cooperation of mother nature but what resources do you need most? >> that assessment is ongoing as councilman stanley has mention, we do have shelters. i just want to extend our prayers for those who have lost their lives in this tragedy and our prayers and support for the residents, the city of garland, north texas and texas as a whole are pulling together and we just want to share our residents and victims on behalf of our mayor and council that all of our resources and as he's mentioned the declaration, and hope we'll get support from the state and federal level for resources. we will rebuild and restore this city. that's our total commitment and we're working together to get that done with our sister cities from across texas. >> we send you our best. we know you have the potential for snow and cold temperatures. mayor pro tem williams and councilman stanley, thank you for joining us on "new day." >> thank you. >>> diminishing confidence about the u.s. fight against i

is there anything else garland needs? >> the outpouring of support we are getting non-profit organizations and churches and businesses is amazing. we are being overwhelmed with all the generosity and donations given to our first responders as well as those directly affected by this storm. you will be holding a news conference 1:30 eastern time. >> we are asking the media to meet us over at the high school so we can have them given access to the tornado trek area. >> all right. thank you so much for being with us. the best of luck to you and everybody there in garland, texas. our thoughts and prayers are with you. >> blizzard-like conditions leading to a state of emergency in oklahoma and new mexico. both governors mobilizing the national guard to help people stranded in the storms. highway officials saying highways are impassible and tens of thousands are without power. freezing rain and sleet is expected for north central texas and northern missouri. gregg: as firefighters battle a wildfire on the southern california coa

lieutenant, thanks for that in garland.hank you. >>> flooding and snow across the country is the biggest concern right now. jennifer gray is in atlanta with the latest threat. >> yeah, christine, we are going to see the threat of snow, not only that, a quarter inch to half inch accumulation in some spots. that's enough to bring down the trees and power lines. we're going to see power outages in places like oklahoma city, as well as kansas city. i want to drive home the power of what we saw outside of dallas. an ef-4 tornado with winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour. those are the winds that are equivalent to a category 5 hurricane. well constructed and whole frame houses will be leveled. cars and other large objects will be thrown around. and small objects, objects as small as pine needles will be turned into projectile missiles. and so, that's the kind of devastation, that's the kind of damage we saw with those tornadoes, that you saw from nick valencia. so, we still have the threat going on for today. we that winter storm w

joining us on the phone to talk about this is garland emergency management public officer. the sun should be coming up that hour. give us an assessment of what happened there last night. >> well last night at about 6:45 is when the tornado hit. southeast part of our city. [ inaudible ] >> it appears we have an wish the signal of joe harn. perhaps we can hang up and renext. joe, this morning as the sunrises is dealing with a place that was hit so hard by one or multiple tornadoes. you're seeing images of the aftermath. people saying these things come out of nowhere while they were on the roads, it knocked the power out, and killed five people, we understand. i believe you're back with us, joe. we got you here on the air. update us on what happened last night and what you expect to deal with this morning. >> well, yes. last night about 6:45 when this tornado hit. we now confirmed that we have eight fatalities from this storm. we have more storms that are rolling through this morning. so we're battling the rain. we're going house to house, apartments were involved in this. and

in garland the storms killed structures in a two-mile area. in rowlett, the tornados injured 23 people and level the 40 homes. high winds tossed trailers at this mobile home park and damaged this strip mall. >> we pray and support those who have lost a family member. >> reporter: texas governor greg abbott says more storms today are complicating recovery efforts. >> i want you to know that texas is doing everything we can to help you piece your lives back together, to help you better deal with the challenges that you are facing right now. >> reporter: this afternoon, mike girard brought his wife nancy back to their home for the first time since they lived through the tornado last night. >> we were on our patio in the back of the house. >> what was that? >> that was the ceiling falling in. we went from being just realizing that we could have been dead. and in an instant, it hit. and less than 60 seconds, it seemed like eternity, it was gone. >> nancy, are you okay? >> no. my boys grew up in this house. everything's gone. >> i'm sorry, baby. >>

garland is an hour northeast of dallas. it's one of the hardest hit areas. >> a man was surveying his home here. take a look behind me, one of many homes on this street that looked just like it. many in this neighborhood that looked just like it. it it has the doll house effect. the man said he looked outside and saw the f4 tornado. only the second f4 ever recorded here in our area headed straight toward him. he said he had a matter of seconds to run and hide in his bathroom before the damage and the wind and the debris did this. when you see the entire area, it's shocking. in this area saw damage. in garland, 100 of those more than completely wiped out. homes destroyed. we did talk to a lot of people who have been coming back here and surveying. it's been tough for them, but not as tough for those that lost loved ones. 8 people were killed in these storms. here in garland, 11 people were killed total in our area. as people have been coming back to pick up the pieces, they've also been trying to survey their area and see wh

in garland for cbs3 "eyewitness news" i'm steve picket >> thank you so much. our thoughts are with all the folks in texts tonight. >>> meantime texas continue to deal with extreme weather, a bras sarod in north tactus is making driving conditions extremely hazardous and shutting down businesses, authorities are discouraging travel throughout the texas pan handle which consists of 26 counties. the snow has even now shut down a highway that runs to new mexico border until tomorrow morning. the ballistics sarod also slammed parts of new mexico dumped two feet of snow in me areas, snow drifts as high as eight feet shutdown roads all over the state. susan in a martinez has declared a state of emergency that means the national guard will be deployed to help stranded drivers. counties will be able to order and pay for additional resources to help. >>> tonight, a delaware family is thanksgiving their dog after she don't she scared away intruders in their home. four-legged hero got to the men in the nick of time before anything was stolen. "eyewitness news" reporter gr

an ef-4 with winds topping 160 garland, texas, flattening hundreds of homes. in north texas at least 11 were killed, part of a system of severe wther this weekend from the gugu of mexico to the grgrt lakes.s. ththdeath toll from five days of storms stands at least at 41. including 11 people swept away by floods in illinois and missouri. we begin with david begnaud in rowlett, texas. >> there is no mistaking a tornado disaster zone. along this residential street where we are every home is damaged. some severely. these vehicles h he look like they crashed into ch other. this one right here, the windows blown out, a piece of plywood came flying through the wishield, impaled in the eyewitnesses who lived through this tornado say it blew through around 7:00 p.m. and lasted less >> there it is, i see it. >> reporter: even by texas standards it was a monstrosity. >> oh, i see it, it's crossing the highway right there. big, big tornado. >> reporter: at least eight tornados exploded through dallas county, the hardest-hit areas are garland and rowlett. >> oh! there's st

in garland the storms killed eight people and destroyed 600 structures in two mile area. in rowlett, the twisters killed two people and damaged 40 homes. damaged this strip mall. >> we pray and support those who have lost a family member. abbott say storms are complicated recovery efforts. >> i want you to know that texas is doing everything we can to together. to help you better deal with the challenges that you are facing right now. >> this afternoon, mike girard brought hi his wife nancy back home since they lived through the tornado last night. of the house. >> what was that? >> that was the ceiling falling in. we went through just being inconvenienced to realizing we could be dead. in an instant, it hit less than 60 seconds. in a second it was gone. >> nancy are you okay? >> my >> sorry, baby. everything's gone! >> we just -- we we don't know what to do. we went from happy, to homeless. in a minute. but we'll rebuild or we'll do what we have to do. >>reporter: mike says when the tornado finally moved out of the area he walked outside to see what was left. his neighbo

. >> nick valencia is on ground in garland, texas. we see the pictures and they never tell the whole story. what is it like to be on ground tonight? >> the weather is relentless here in garland, texas, that severe weather threat has not left this area at all. lots of travel delays and flights being canceled into and out of the dallas area. we got the closest we've been allowed to get to so far to the damage. we're looking at a row of houses with the roofs ripped off the top of the homes. a half mile away from it was where i'm standing the authorities are still going door to door to do the rescue and recovery mission, making sure that everyone is accounted for. this storm has taken the life of at least 11 people so far and they are concerned the death toll could go up as authorities go door to door. we understand the national weather service has a team here assessing the damage and we're getting the first glimpse from our perspective here of the damage that ef-4 tornado, a very violent storm that ripped through here leaving debris and

the hardest hit communities are garland and rowlett. damage has been reported along a 40 mile stretch of homes and businesses. in the darkness last night the destruction was hard to see. but by this morning the path of the tornadoes was clear. entire communities are flattened. many of the houses still standing are without roofs. vehicles are flipped or buried in garland the storms killed eight people and destroyed 600 structures in two mile area. in rowlett, the twisters killed two people and damaged 40 homes. damaged this strip mall. >> we pray and support those who have lost a family member. >>reporter: texas governor greg abbott say storms are complicated recovery efforts. >> i want you to know that texas is doing everything we can to help you piece your lives back together. to help you better deal with the challenges that you are facing right now. >> this afternoon, mike girard brought hi his wife nancy back home since they lived through the tornado last night. >> we were on our patio the back of the house. >> what was that? we went

in garland for cbs3 "eyewitness news" i'm steve picket >> thank you so much. our thoughts are with all the folks in texts tonight. >>> meantime texas continue to deal with extreme weather, a bras sarod in north tactus is making driving conditions extremely hazardous and shutting down businesses, authorities are discouraging travel throughout the texas pan handle which consists of 26 counties. the snow has even now shut down a highway that runs to new mexico border until tomorrow morning. the ballistics sarod also slammed parts of new mexico dumped two feet of snow in me areas, snow drifts as high as eight feet shutdown roads all over the state. susan in a martinez has declared a state of emergency that means the national guard will be deployed to help stranded drivers. counties will be able to order and pay for additional resources to help. >>> tonight, a delaware family is thanksgiving their dog after she don't she scared away intruders in their home. four-legged hero got to the men in the nick of time before anything was stolen. "eyewitness news" reporter gr

seis de la tarde marco el reloj, cuando el remolino paso por este vecindario al sur de garland./su casa quedo destruida 11.50.16 estaba en el garaje. estaba trabajando en mi troca y estaba grande y se veia como lucesitas seran las lineas de eletricidad a muchos el tornado, confirmado, de categoria 4 los tomo por sorpresa. dijeron las autoridades que, algunos de loss manejaban por la interestatal 30 cuando el tornado los atrapo en su aspa. sus vahículos cayeron del puente al precipicio. 11.50.41 la cuarta parte del techo se fue con todo y madera, no tengo es millonaria la cifra en perdidas materiales. pedro bareno/vocero policia de garland 11.46.16 tenemos aproximadamente 600 edificios que fueron destruidos, casas, apartamentos y edificios de negocio estas fotos las tomo, gerson soto quien regreso esta manana a colaborar con su familia para rescatar lo que pudieran, entre escombros. en sus 26 anos de razon nunca habia visto algo similar. (sot)) merrill balanciere/vocer o bomberos de garland 11.56.52 people maybe handicap or people who need medicines and oxygen la prioridad para l

tornadoes being reported in the towns of rowlett, garland and ovilla.ve been damaged or destroyed. people being told to seek shelter. the panhandle of texas and oklahoma preparing for a historic blizzard. heavy snow and ice are all expected. some areas could see as much as 24 inches of snow. this system is expected to stay in the area until monday. now back to "a factor special, killing lincoln." lincoln: an o'reilly factor special." one of my many stops on the original "killing lincoln" book tour was glenn beck's tv show. beck loves history, and you could tell by the questions he asked. >> i want to introduce you to an older gentleman who has -- who i'm just kind of dragging along, 'cause i kind of feel bad for him. he's got a little show. i don't know if you've ever heard of it. it's called "the o'reilly factor." and it is on the fox news c and, bill, i have to tell you -- i have you on the radio program. and you know, because i've had you on and we've talked about your book before. and, you know, sometimes, i read books. sometimes, i don't read books

it's just hard to see. >> reporter: here in garland more than 600 homes were damaged. eight people lost their lives. and jeff, many others returning to scenes like this, total losses with nothing left to return home to. >> dan hagerty, thank you. >>> more dangerous weather tonight. blizzard conditions in parts of texas, oklahoma, and new mexico. let's bring in david payne, chief meteorologist at our oklahoma city affiliate kwtv. david, what's happening there? >> well, it's been a wild day so we've had a lot of ice, a lot of sleet in oklahoma. oklahoma. just a big mess around here. i-40 westbound west of oklahoma city has been shut down several times today, to just simply too much ice and sleet. we are not through, more on the way. jeff, back to you. >> david payne, thank you very much. >>> farther west in roswell, new mexico, here's cheyenne cope of our albuquerque affiliate krqe. >> i'm standing in two and a half feet of snow, it's up to my knees and causing dangerous road conditions. several roads have been shut down due to dangerous conditions across the area. polic

the tornado that hit garland, texas was an ef4 packing winds up to 200 miles per hour. and... the iowa state patrol is watching the roads as the snow keeps coming down. trooper john farley says there's limited visibility in siouxland, especially out on the rural roads. meteorologist ben dorenbach joins us with the forecast. snow made for a messy monday for many as parts of eastern siouxland including carroll, iowa received 4 sioux city was dropped from the winter storm warning from earlier, but one remains ininffect for areas east of the metro where somemeut there could see around 7-10 inches of snow between today and tomorrow. you'll see these amounts get smaller the farther west in the viewing area you travel, so sioux city could very well fall short of the half-foot mark of the white stuff by tuesday morning. the snow will decrease in intensity and eventually exit the viewing area tomorrow morning as winds lighten up. another disturbance could provide another snow dusting tuesday night/wednesday morning, and that should do it for snow chances in the seven day forecast. mean

the storm claimed eight lives in garland --- the youngest victim just one-year-old. at least three others were killed in other area cities. winter f foding has caused havav throughout parts of the midwest and southeast. the high waters have forced people to leave their homes, wiped out roads and claimed lives. nbc's dan scheneman has more from missiouri. << in missouri, flood waters and ar are both on the rise. (nats) residents in the town of union hoped sandbags would save their community. when waters spilled over a levee in west alton...people were told to evacuate. rising waters have left some people stranded.....on e man had to be rescued from the (chandler vonderahe :20- :23) "the water started coming up pretty quick and before i knew it i was overwhelmed. i had to call the fire department to come bail me o o." this has been the wettest december on record in st. louis and missouri is now under a state of emergency.... governor jay nixon has called in the national guard...he warned residents that thehreat is far from over. (gov. jay nixon/(d)misso uri:40-:52 ) "n

in the garland suburb, more than 600 structures are damaged. most of them houses. some of them reduce ed to rubble. several of the twisters touched down after dark and that just added to the chaos. >> you could see the transformers blowing up and few things popping. you can only see when the lightning went off, when the power went out, it was pitch black. >> sounded like a freight train coming through. it was just, i mean, it was astonishing the way it came through. just shocking, just heard everything just shaking, rattling and rolling. >> the tornado kacapped off a christmas week that saw devastating storms across the southeast. janice dean is tracking it all. >> hi, shannon. the threat for severe weather again this afternoon and tonight. we have a tornado watch in effect east of the dallas area. but we also have a tornado warning within that watch box. seeing some rotation on doppler radar, you need to be listening very closely to your local weather forecast, especially if you live in texas, as well as lieu lieu and arkansas. behind this, very cold conditions an

eight people were killed in garland, texas. 600 homes destroyed. those families who lost their homes have to deal with cold temperatures, rain, and wind as they try to pi up the pieces of their lives and cleanup. dana: thank you. that storm system that swept through dallas over thg east. tornadoes a possibility in louisiana, mississippi, and kim: the ripple effect for everyone traveling now. we have been checking into live pictures in chicago at o'hare airport. it looks like long lines. the clerk county -- clark county that fell to his death on saturday. of spokane, washington. he was on a hike with two other people with the tragedy happened.metro tells u head when he fell and was not wearing a helmet. he fell in the oak creek canyon area, the last turn off of the scenic drive at red rock. dana: we know one of the big deals of the new year is the rose parade not far from here in pasadena, california. thousands of volunteers getting kim: that was great. as you can see, artists are working around the clock in according to organizers, it will take me

authorities say eight people were killed in garland structures were damaged. texas governor greg abbott declared a disaster in four dallas-area counties. one person is dead after a small plane crashes into a building in downtown anchorage, alaska this morning. there are no reports of other injuries on the ground. there were reports of strong winds when the plane clipped the corner of an office building before smashing into the side of a another building. one witness said that it didn't sound like the plane was having engine trouble before the crash. there's much more coming up in the second half of fox5 news at 5. including an death of a young woman found the son of a polish immigrant who grew up in a brooklyn tenement. he went to public schools, then college/ where the work of his life began -- fighting injustice and inequality, speaking truth to power. he moved to vermont, won election and praise as one of america's best mayors. in congress, he stood up for working families and for principle, opposing the iraq war, supporting veterans. now he's taking on wal

the national weather service says an e-f-four tornado struck garland over the weekend. such a twister has wind gusts that can reach 200 miles an hour. authorities say eight people were killed in garland from the storm, while hundreds of structures were damaged. texas governor greg abbott declared a disaster in four dallas-area counties. (( weather )) meteorologist ted pretty another freezing night as we'll drop down to 31 degrees in las vegas with outlying areas seeing mid-20s overnight. only 49 degrees with sunny skies on wednesday and that's where we stay for new year's eve through sunday afternoon. overnight lows will stay around freezing through sunday morning also. we should see a temperature of 34 degrees when we ring in the new year on thursday night around midnight with some light 10- 15 mph breezes. another freezing night as we'll drop outlying areas seeing mid-20s overnight. only 49 degrees with sunny skies on wednesday and that's where we stay for new year's eve through sunday afternoon. overnight lows will stay around freezing through sunday morning also. we

we're at the landmark apartments on the southern edge of garland, texas.he ef-4 tornado passed right over this area. you can take a look at some of the damage. these are apartments here about 200 units, most of them have been completely destroyed, damaged beyond repair. they'll have to probably bulldoze a lot of these buildings here. luckily no one was killed here, although 10 to 15 people were hurt in this storm that came through on saturday night. that's perhaps the good news. the warning systems worked. there were silence that were going off. all the television stations were broadcasting the storm live. at least radar images of the storm. people had their cell phone apps that were sending out alerts. so a lot of people were aware that there was severe weather in the area. in fact the forecasters had been predicting it for several days prior. most of the deaths in garland -- in fact, there were eight of them in this town alone -- were on the highway right behind the camera. interstate 30. people passing through just happened to drive by just as the storm

joining me now on the phone is lieutenant pedro bareknow with the garland, texas, police department.t. you're directing search and rescue efforts on the ground. what are you finding? what's the situation there? >> as of right now, you know, the tornado struck the southeast part of garland and devastated numerous houses, buildings, apartment complex, rescue teams going door to door, attempting to make contact with anyone that can make contact with, make sure that everyone is accounted for. of course if someone is in need of rescuing, that's what they're there for, to make sure we can get them out. >> have you received a lot of reports from people or, you know, 911 calls saying i can't find my husband, i can't find my child or what is the volume you're getting? >> you know, we have not received many calls about we can't find so-and-so. we have eight confirmed deaths based on this storm. and from the storm, some were transported to hoe cal hospitals. but we are making contact with -- well, attempting to identify the people who are deceased and also try to make contact with next of kin.

k pete: at this point it seems like garland than paris. paris was an attack hatched in with help from syria probably and imported into paris and carried out there by someone directing it. this isn't seem like that. comey said today several times, only 50 hours into this investigation so they don't really know where this will end but at this point it does look like what they've been worried about for a year and a is people here in the united states receiving this message and agreeing to go out and kill people. what we don't know is, did tashfeen malik, who came to the just a year ago, who syed farook met overseas through an online dating service, did she come here with that predisposition? even wondering was this a plot all along to find an do anan and come in and attack. that's way down the road. no sign of that yet. gwen: as usual, we're in the position of being cautious about what's happening and also having go about our business as attorney general keeps telling us, it's a complicated balance to strike. th ks, pete. pete: you bet. gwen:

and the path of destruction carved by a neighborhood nearby, in garland, and it's not just texas tonight. 80 million americans in the path and it's on one of the busiest travel days of the season. this map shows every flight over the countriry now. those are the lucky ones. hundreds of cancellations, but we begin first with one of the matt gutman leading us off from hard-hit garland. matt, good evening. >> this apocalyptic scene goes on, house after house, for a 40-block swath. looks like thousand-pound trucks just exploded out of the sky. overnight, that tornado exploding over these north texas suburbs, this one turning into a pillar of fire as blew up transformers. >> that's it! it's a tornado! >> reporter: and sparking panic. those 11 people killed in separate locations. at least five died as the storm descended onto i-30. just crossing the highway, right there. >> reporter: night those flashes of lightning. >> it's big! >> reporter: illuminating the monster. the sirens blared as that wedge darkened the sky. the same system bringing flash floods all the way to missouri, killing six th

in garland, the storms killed 11 people and destroyed 600 structures in a 2- mile area. injured 23 and leveled 40 homes. texas governor greg abbott says more storms today are complicating recovery efforts. (gov. greg abbott/tx) "i want you to know that texas is doing everything we can to help you piece your lives back together." (couple crying) this afternoon mike gerourd brought his wife nancy back to their home for the first time since they lived through the tornado. (mike gerourd/tornado survivor) "we went from being just inconvenienced to realizing we could've been dead." (nancy gerourd/tornado survivor) nancy are you okay? n: no, my boys grew up in this house, and everything's gone. (david begnaud/cbs news/rowlett, tx) (tells story about family across the street - 25 seconds in length)/// getting back to normal in southern california... after a massive wildfire forced evacuations and threatened homes. nearly a hundred residents are being allowed back to their homes. the fire ignited christmas night when strong winds blew down a powerline in ventura county, north of

today, the national weather service said an ef-4 tore through garland, with howling

cnn's nick lavenc vealencia is garland. the residents must be wondering how they will come back from this? >> well, the shock has not settled in for some of them. we have spoken to some of them coming back in the last couple of hours or so, to salvage what little they have left. we are joined by the johnson family, michael and his son jaylen, and hey, how are you doing, and his wife, la tonya, and how are you doing in >> we are living. ta is what i keep telling everybody, we are living. we walked out and all four still together, and thank god for that, but we are living. >> you guys rode out the storm as a family, and your son jaylen was telling me that he heard the sirens, but it seemed a little too late for you guys. explain what happened? >> it was just quick. the moment that he said that he heard the sirens, we could hear them, and they got louder and we got up and put on shoes, and we headed to the bathroom, and you could hear the most terrible noise that you have ever heard in your life. it sounded like a giant steppi

nick valencia, cnn, garland, texas." and china is no different. heavy fog covered many cities in the sichuan province--temporari ly closing some highways. vehicles were stranded after toll gates closed in one city. things did return to normal later in the morning. two more deadly shootings this christmas weekend -- at the hands of chicago police -- are adding fuel to the fire for those calling for the rahm emanuel. fox news' matt finn reports on the tension between police -- and those they are sworn to protect. two police shootings on christmas are adding to the rising tension in chicago. cooksey says: "something just need to be done. i used to watch the news daily and i would grieve for other mothers, other family grieving myself. when do it come to an end?" police responded to a domestic distrubance call made by the legrier. officers say when they arrived to the apartment complex legrier was swinging a bat and became combative. police shot and killed the teen. in the process-officers 55-year- old mother of five bettie jones -- a neighbor -- who

i was talking to a resident here of garland, texas. he says for the first time in his life he really looked death in its face. he was at a hotel and the tornado swept through here coming across he said he only had about a minute to prepare because the force of the tornado and the sound of the tornado was so strong that it overpowered the tornado sirens that were warning residents about what they were about to face. he was a quarter mile from the damage that we are able to see. all of the debris flying off the homes and making its way towards this area that i'm standing now. the governor of texas declaring a state of emergency and at least four counties have been affected. we're told that local authorities here are still going home to home to see if there's any people that are still unaccounted for. poppy? >> nick valencia on the ground in garland, thank you. we have a mayor of one of the nearby towns joining us later. his house was in the eye of the storm but miraculously it was missed. if you want to know how to help, go to cnn.com/im

matt gutman leading us off from hard-hit garland. matt, good evening. >> reporter: this apocalyptic scene goes on, house after house, for a 40-mile swath. in some places it looks like 5,000-pound trucks just fell out of the sky. overnight, that tornado exploding over these north texas suburbs, this one turning into a pillar of fire as it blew up transformers. it's a tornado! >> reporter: and sparking panic. those 11 people killed in separate locations. at least five died as the storm descended onto i-30. >> i can see it. just crossing the highway, right there. >> reporter: in the pitch black, the flashes of lightning illuminating the monster. the sirens blared as that wedge darkened the sky. the same system bringing flash floods all the way to missouri, killing six there. the tornado that crashed down in garland, texas, clocked as an ef4, whipping winds as fast as 200 miles per hour. in the morning light the devastation revealed. walking and driving around the area, you can see it's total devastation in the area. >> reporter: you can

police in garland say four people were killed during the storms. there's been extensive damage done to homes, a church, and vehicles -- stretching from garland, about 20 miles northeast of dallas, to glenn heights, about 20 miles south of the city. a six-year-old girl from webster city is now dead. and kcci's rose heaphy explains how she has been on life support since a car crash on christmas day. difficult time for payton henry's family. they were just minutes away from celebrating christmas with other relatives, when everything changed in an instant. fiery aftermath of a now deadly crash in fort dodge. jeep traveling eastbound on highway d-20 drifted across the center lane and hit a truck head-on. in the truck were justin henry, brooke ford, and their three children -- on their way to celebrate christmas. six-year-old payton henry was sitting behind the driver's seat. jana: she was eating a tootsie roll. and when the crash occurred, it had gotten lodged. brooke, the mother, did perform cpr before help arrived. rose: an ambulance drove payton to b