United States

Houston

Provincial

3

225 km/h

On Tuesday, 24 January 2023, tornado and severe weather conditions hit South-East Houston, impacting several communities in the greater Houston area, including Baytown, Deer Park and Pasadena.

A tornado emergency was declared. The National Weather Service Houston confirmed that the tornado will be preliminarily rated EF3 (Enhanced Fujita scale), with an estimated maximum path length of 18 miles, maximum path width of 0.66 miles, and maximum wind speed of 140 mph (225 km/h).

Local

< 10

Catastrophic damage on communities across South-East Houston.

Major refineries and chemical facilities outside Houston were reporting operational upsets after the tornado. The severe string of storms knocked out power to parts of the refining corridor South-East of the Houston, forcing facilities to flare and at least one chemical facility, Braskem’s complex in LaPorte, to do a controlled shut-down.

Significant damage to the electric system and transmission structures (power lines were downed, more than 290 poles, 90 transformers, 50 fuses, and 80 downed wire spans) with electric service interruption to more than 200,000 people. On the following day of the tornado (Wednesday, January 25), more than 22,000 homes around the region were still affected by more than 500 power outages.

Damage was caused to commercial and residential buildings (roof damage), with "catastrophic" damage (including collapsed buildings) being reported to at least 30 homes in the affected area.

18 commercial trucks overturned and vehicles crashed. Multiple roads were blocked.

A wastewater facility was also reported to have significant damage but was still functioning.

One person and two dogs were injured.