Parts of Garland reopen following deadly tornado

GARLAND, Texas - Storm victims are beginning to cleaning up the damage from the nine tornadoes that hit North Texas Saturday night.

In Garland, more than 1,000 homes were damaged. An EF-4 tornado there stayed on the ground for 13 miles and was about a quarter-mile wide.

Residents will finally get the chance to see the damage to their homes as streets south of Interstate 30, east of Peninsula Way and south of Locust Grove reopen. They were closed immediately after the storms.

FOX 4's Lori Brown found one apartment complex near I-30 and the President George Bush Turnpike that was devastated. The tornado ripped the roof off and the walls were stripped down.

"It's really a reminder if you ever doubted the advice to get inside an interior room. You can really see why you should do that," she said.

The area west of the open area is still closed because of heavy damage, downed power lines and the possibility of leaking gas. City officials said it's just too dangerous to reopen those areas.

"We are going to be accessing, continuing to access the total damage that has been done and once we get the total damage we're going to start our recovery phase and move forward. We're a resilient city and we are gonna recover from this," said Lt. Pedro Barineau from the Garland Police Department.

Garland has set up a website for people who need help and those willing to donate or help. For more information, visit GarlandTx.Recovers.org.

An EF-3 tornado plowed through the city of Rowlett. The city manager said about 40 homes were destroyed and nearly two dozen more suffered major damage.