Two confirmed tornadoes hit Williamson County on Monday evening, damaging or destroying about 1,000 homes and businesses, said County Judge Bill Gravell.
Emergency Medical Services also did not transport anyone with critical or serious injuries, the judge said. He credited the media for alerting the public about the approaching storm.
Most of the homes that were struck were in the Gattis School Road area of Round Rock, Gravell said. He said multiple business also were damaged, including one with a collapsed roof.
One of the tornadoes that struck Williamson County traveled more than 24 miles and started at Interstate 35 and Texas 45, Gravell said.
One of the twisters touched down in Round Rock damaging Chili's, Twin Peaks, and Bank of America which were all destroyed.
Chili’s employees helped customers and staff take cover just moments before the tornado touched down, which ultimately destroyed the restaurant and surrounding area.
Customers were told to run to the back into the kitchen where the safest area would be, away from the windows. Once it calmed down, they emerged to find buildings and cars destroyed. In less than a minute, Twin Peaks, Chili's, and Bank of America in Round Rock had their roofs torn off and windows shattered.
Gravell said the second other tornado started northwest of Jarrell and had a 12-mile-long path.
A county employee in a home outside Granger saved her two nieces when their house was ripped away by the storm, officials said.
When the tornado struck, the county employee had one child under her arm and the other child was about to be blown away when the aunt grabbed her arm, said Gravell.
All that was left of the house was a slab.