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NWS, Tyler resident talk about tornado damage during Thursday's severe storms

Our CBS19 tower cam showed the tornado as it moved over the Midtown neighborhood of Tyler.

TYLER, Texas — The National Weather Service says they've found damage consistent with an EF-0 tornado in Tyler. The tornado was 65 yards wide and was only on the ground for three minutes. It traveled less than a mile. 

Our CBS19 tower cam showed the tornado as it moved over the Midtown neighborhood of Tyler. Eventually the tornado moved over Fleishel Avenue, near Tyler Junior College. Video shared to CBS19 by Karson Welch shows the rotation moving over the campus. 

"That’s it right there, we got to go," Welch said. 

Jason Hansford, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service out of Shreveport, spent Friday morning surveying the damage.

"Damage has been mostly consistent with snapped, some small and medium sized snapped tree limbs as well as some minor shingle damage," Hansford said. 

That information is consistent with a preliminary EF-0 tornado. NWS scouted damage across Midtown. The agency found a funeral home sign that was taken out by the wind. Further up Fleishel Avenue, a business had its glass awning shattered by the storm. Aangel Mckenzie was shocked at what she saw when she heard a loud thump during the storm. 

"It kind of blocked everything and we were here, and we couldn’t get out. It blocked both cars in," Mckenzie said. 

A tree fell in front of her yard, barely clipping the corner of her roof. She has no power but she's thankful to still have a roof.

"It didn’t even go through, so we don’t have any leaks or water damage or anything like that," Mckenzie said. 

A UT Health East Texas hospital is in the Midtown neighborhood where the tornado passed. Video shared to CBS19 by Alicia Dawson Webb shows what the tornado looked like from the hospital. Kenneth Webb, who is in charge of security and emergency management at the hospital, said they were ready to respond as soon as the tornado warning went out. 

"At which time the city implemented its response and once I received the message, we implemented our severe weather plan and moved our patients to a safe area," Webb said. 

Officials reported no injuries during the tornado.

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