Inside the Storm

On March 27, 1997, a deadly and destructive F-5 tornado ripped through the Central Texas community of Jarrell. It killed 27 people, with winds so powerful it levelled homes and tore pavement off of roads. NBC 5 journalists who reported on the devastation reflect on the days after the tornado.

Imagine seeing a tornado tossing 18-wheelers live on TV. That’s what happened on April 3, 2012, during a powerful outbreak in North Texas. At one point, tornado emergencies were declared simultaneously for two different storms threatening Dallas and Tarrant counties, in an afternoon unlike anything meteorologists had seen here before.

In the new, four-part streaming docuseries, ‘Texas Power Crisis: 4:37 From Disaster,’ NBC 5 looks back at the days of frigid temperatures and desperation from a once-in-a-lifetime winter storm and the loss of power for millions.

It’s been one year since a historic winter storm left the Texas power grid minutes from disaster. In a new docuseries, ‘Texas Power Crisis: 4:37 From Disaster,’ NBC 5 looks back at the days of frigid temperatures, investigates the problems that have been fixed and the explores lingering issues that could still leave us on the brink of another collapse.

Just before rush hour on February 11, 2021, a thin layer of invisible ice caused a horrific 133-vehicle pileup in the I-35W express lanes in Fort Worth. Helpless drivers became trapped in the wreckage. Six people died, while dozens of other victims were taken to hospitals.

On December 26, 2015, unusually warm weather fueled a dangerous and deadly tornado outbreak in North Texas. The largest tornado, an EF-4, struck Garland and Rowlett, tossing cars from a highway overpass.

Before a winter storm hit North Texas in 2013, most people had never heard the phrase ‘cobblestone ice.’ Now it’s something drivers who spent hours navigating nightmarish roads filled with deep ruts will never forget.