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Tornado strikes rural Bowie

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By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Tornado damage struck the Bowie area once more and while the primary city-limits were spared the outlying area took the brunt of it.
Between 10-14 tornadoes were reported across central and north Texas Monday evening. The National Weather Service is surveying damage and as of noon, Tuesday had not made a determination if there was just one tornado or more than one came across the southern part of the county, or what type of tornado.
The tornado warning went out at 4:19 p.m. just on the heels of a tornado striking Jacksboro and causing extensive damage. Further south the system created tornadoes that struck Round Rock causing major damage.
In Bowie, the storm sirens started going off about 4:15 p.m. and residents were urged to take cover. At 4:31 p.m. a confirmed “rain-wrapped” tornado was located southwest of Bowie moving northeast at 40 mph. Heavy rain and damaging half-dollar size hail accompanied it.
This storm system appears to have started its path near Fruitland Road moving northeast across to State Highway 101 where there was significant damage to homes. Just east of Tower Road on Hwy. 101, a house looked like it exploded.
Bowie Police Sgt. Bob Blackburn said firefighters climbed into the debris to find three residents who had been trapped. Blackburn said he helped clear some of the debris as the residents, who were barefooted, were taken away from the collapsed structure.
“It looked like a thumb had come down and just squashed that house. It is surprising anyone survived,” exclaimed Blackburn.

County Judge Kevin Benton said Monday night it appears about a dozen homes were destroyed and another 60 received damage, however, as assessments continue in the daylight those figures could change. Last night there also were about 2,500 people without electricity. He noted while there were six citizens reportedly who went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, there were no deaths to report as of Monday.
Local law enforcement officers were patrolling the damaged areas to help protect assets.
“We are in the middle of assessing the damage today (Tuesday). The Texas Department of Emergency Management is sending a team to help, but they also are working in Jacksboro. It will be several days before we get actual numbers,” said the judge.
Monday night the judge signed a disaster declaration for the county and that will be forwarded to the governor’s office. It was expected the governor would declare a disaster in connection to these storms which opens up relief assistance to victims.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News. Also see a related story on the website about debris dumpsters being set up at the edge of Bowie. See more photos also in the mid-week edition.

Garage and storage buildings were tossed around like paper in Monday storm. This is on Brushy Road. (Photo by Barbara Green)
Ray and Jill Jones saw their shop destroyed in the storm with pieces of it landing on their parked vehicles nearby. They live in the Timber Oaks Court addition on Selma Park Road. (Courtesy photo)
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NEWS

Amon Carter Lake Board to meet

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Members of the Amon Carter Lake Water Supply Corporation will meet at 6 p.m. on May 26 in the office at 607A Lindsey for a monthly meeting.
Items on the agenda include a consent agenda and minutes and financials. Possible discussion/action may be considered on the following topics: Treasurer’s report, review of finance and current loans; president’s report as to the written agreements with contractual employees; consider current water rates and a possible increase; and review of expenses and areas that need amendment.
An executive session may be entered to discuss personnel issues.

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Saint Jo City Council hires fire marshal

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The City of Saint Jo has a new fire marshal as the city council made the appointment during its May 13 meeting.
Gary Hines, a retired professional firefighter and certified fire investigator, will take the position. City Secretary Debbie Dennis said the post is required by ordinance but has not been filled for a long period.
The council set dates for a budget workshop for 2 p.m. on June 14 and 2 p.m. on June 28 for the ordinance workshop, as the council works to update its rules.

Aldermen gave their support to a proposition by Councilman Jack Dunn who is asking the Legislature to allow Texas’ smallest cities, those with 2,500 or few in population, to receive an additional share of sales and use tax. He would like to see the funds used in these communities to repair and replace aging infrastructure without new taxes or reliance on state grants.
In letter to State Rep. David Spiller, whom Dunn will meet with on June 1, the alderman explains much of the state’s 6.25% share generated locally flows into general funds and is spent on other priorities. He would like Spiller to author this legislation. Dunn gave the letter to the council along with a powerpoint on the plan.
“A single water treatment plant upgrade or sewer rehab carries massive, fixed costs that do not shrink with population size. These communities, often with only a few hundred or a couple thousands residents, simply cannot spread those costs across enough ratepayers or a broad tax based,” the letter states.
Dunn suggests a “graduated sales tax retention policy:” 1% additional share for cities with 2,500 or fewer residents; .75% for those 2,500 and 5,000; and .50% for cities between 5,001 and 10,000. It would be dedicated to infrastructure. Dunn says the overall statewide fiscal impact would be negligible, but could help sustain small, rural cities.

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City of Nocona buys water storage tank, review dam repair

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The Nocona City Council approved a bid for a new 203,000 gallon capacity tank for potable water at the water plant and learned a slide repair to the lake dam is going to be pretty costly.
At its May 12 session the council received three bids on the tank and went with one from Tank Depot of Cleburne for $193,923. It is for a a 217,600 gallon tank usable for 203,000 gallons. The price could change slightly since it was based on estimate freight costs.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

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