ALVARADO, Texas - School children in the small city of Alvarado headed back to school Tuesday morning as the community continued to recover from Monday's tornado.
The National Weather Service has confirmed at least four EF-1 category tornadoes struck North Texas early Monday morning:
* near the town of Cash in Hunt County
* west of Alvarado in Johnson County
* two miles northwest of Rio Vista in Johnson County
* in Forney in Kaufman County
Alvarado police say they stepped up patrols across the area to keep people safe from thieves and vandals since so many are still in the dark. They say homes, businesses and many traffic intersections lost power due to the powerful storm.
The power is still out at the business where the tornado touched down early Monday morning in Alvarado. The Medicine Chest Pharmacy on Highway 67 has begun rebuilding, but only partially. The tornado blew off one whole wall, leaving the inside the business exposed. Tuesday morning, the wall was boarded up, but not entirely.
The pharmacy will continue repairs, but says customers can continue picking up prescriptions next door at the Video Giant beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Cleanup also continued in Rio Vista in the morning. Rio Vista was the site where the second tornado touched down in Johnson County. Five homes suffered significant damage. One homeowner lost her roof, another lost two family sheds full of family belongings.
Homeowner Joe Fonseca said the 100 mph winds shifted his foundation six inches while giving his family a good shaking as they tried to stay safe inside their home.
Johnson County officials say no one was seriously injured, but the storm damage is widespread.
