CASS COUNTY, Texas — On Monday night the National Weather Service has increased the number of tornados to nine from last Friday’s storm. They struck from North Texas and into the Ark-La-Tex area.
Officials confirmed seven of those tornadoes touched down in East Texas. The city of Hughes Springs in Cass County was among the hardest hit.
"There's tons of trees down, roofs damaged and houses damaged," said Travis Ransom, the Cass County Judge. "But what you saw were neighbors helping neighbors."
As the cleanup continues there are new questions about where people can go to stay safe during severe weather.
Staying put can be especially dangerous for those who live in mobile homes. Judge Ransom confirmed the area has no county funded tornado shelters mainly due to the county being so wide and rural.
"It's really impractical for the most part, because of the distance you'd have to travel to get to a shelter," Ransom said. "That's where you wind up having an accident. I've seen people where they've had accidents just trying to get away from their mobile home and into a safer, more secure structure."
So what should you do if you live in a mobile home and county with no public shelters?
"You need to go to a safer building, whether it be a family or friend's house, or another community building," said Charlie Woodrum, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the NWS. "Maybe it's a church, maybe it's a school."
Woodrum said in McCurtain County one family moved to the center of their home and ducked underneath their staircase during a tornado warning.
"The roof and second floor were completely ripped off of their home," Woodrum said. "They saved their lives or prevented serious injury by taking those simple actions to get to the center of a building."
East Texas is no stranger to tornadoes. So experts say it’s always best to plan for the worse.
"My kids immediately grab their bicycle helmets, and they put on close toed shoes," Ransom said. "They go to the interior room of their home when there's no windows and they hunker down in that bathroom, just to try to mitigate the damage."
"We know this is a very active part of the country for tornadoes, both in the spring and the fall," Woodrum said. "So we have to be ready for it."
Election Day is this Tuesday and judge Ransom wants Hughes Springs residents to know that their usual polling location in currently out of commission. They can vote at the First United Methodist Church.