Texas tornado leaves at least 1 dead, 10 injured as it tears through town near Brownsville

04:46

EF-1 tornado destroys homes in Laguna Heights, Texas

Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hushen said the town of Laguna Heights, Texas is working together to recover from an EF-1 tornado that left homes destroyed this past weekend. Hushen noted that tornadoes are rare for the town and the twister struck a very condensed area. 

LAGUNA HEIGHTS, Texas – A tornado tore through a small town near Brownsville, Texas, early Saturday morning, killing at least one person and sending 10 others to the hospital.

The storm swept through the town of Laguna Heights near Port Isabel in the darkness just after 4 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. 

00:28

Tornado leaves at least 1 dead, 10 injured as it tears through Texas town

A tornado tore through the town of Laguna Heights, Texas early Saturday morning, killing at least one person and sending 10 others to the hospital.

NIGHTTIME TORNADOES FAR MORE LIKELY TO TURN DEADLY THAN THOSE DURING THE DAY

Emergency crews arrived to find that "multiple structures sustained extensive damage and powerlines were damaged causing some outages," according to officials with the city of Port Isabel.  

02:20

Devastation left behind after tornado strikes south Texas

Video shot in Laguna Heights Friday night shows tornado damage and debris strewn throughout a neighborhood. (Courtesy: Crystal Flores / Facebook)

One person was found dead at the scene, while 10 others were taken to a local hospital for injuries, Port Isabel officials said. Officials originally announced two people had died but corrected their report later Saturday morning to state only one death had been confirmed. Search and rescue efforts are underway. 

National Weather Service officials said a storm survey team has given the storm a preliminary rating of EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with estimated wind speeds of 86 to possibly 110 mph as the tornado tracked along the ground for five minutes. 

HOW ARE TORNADOES RATED? THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE EXPLAINED

Police in Port Isabel said they are stopping all traffic on Highway 100 and rerouting them away from the damage scene. A shelter opened at the Port Isabel Event Center for those displaced by the storm. 

Additional strong storms were in the offing in Texas on Saturday amid a stubbornly active weather pattern. The southern Plains will see the severe weather risk first as a strong but broad area of low pressure swirls nearby.