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Orange County Emergency Management and Orange County Road and Bridge are coordinating a debris pick up for those areas in Orange County affected by the tornado activity that happened this week. This debris pickup will be only in the areas mentioned below beginning on Monday November 8th through Wednesday November 24th:

– Woodland Ridge Neighborhood

– Hudnall Road

– Stallion Road

– Randall Road

– Teal Road

FM 1130 between Meadowlark and Teal Road

– Old Hwy 90

ONLY vegetative/green waste piles (tree limbs, branches and cuttings) will be picked up, no construction and/or demolition materials or white goods will be picked up. If there is construction and/or demolition materials with the vegetative/green waste piles the pile WILL NOT be picked up.

The vegetative/green waste should be cut in 10 foot or less pieces. Please place the debris to the side of the road in a manner that is NOT blocking the roadway in any way. The debris should be accessible for pick up with a grappling truck. The Road and Bridge Department employees are only allowed to get what they can reach from the road with their equipment, they are not allowed to go on private property.

It is recommended that homeowner’s take pictures of all debris that is placed curbside for pickup to insure proper documentation. It is further recommended that each homeowner verify with their insurance carrier any other additional documentation requirements they may have.

A tornado touched down on Wednesday south of Old Hwy 90 near the State Hwy 62 exit on Interstate 10, severely damaging a brick home. A large building in the backyard was destroyed, an RV was tossed 25 yards, a truck flipped over, and 3 other vehicles were pushed out of the driveway. An ATV stored in the building in the backyard was picked up by the tornado and tossed across I-10. Further to the north on State Hwy 62 at the TxDOT office, large warehouses in the back had the overhead doors blown in.

A large tornado also began near Farm to Market Road 1130, flipping a double wide mobile home that was tied down. A woman inside was critically injured. Other homes along Farm to Market Road 1130 had trees fall on them, roofs ripped off, and wind-blown debris damage. The tornado continued north on South Teal Road, blowing down trees. Along Hudnall Road, several homes and garages lost their roofs. The tornado turned a little to the northeast, and hit the Woodland Ridge Acres subdivision off of State Hwy 87, blowing down more trees.

The tornado crossed from Orange County into Newton County, damaging several homes and garages in Hartburg.