Names of 7 North Texas tornado victims released – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

For the first time, we have a complete picture of the victims of this weekend’s deadly tornadoes in North Texas.

Investigators believe seven people were killed in the storms, including four children. All of the fatalities occurred in the Valley View area of ​​Cooke County.

NBC 5 has now learned the names of all seven victims.

On Monday, family members told NBC 5 that Victor Ortiz was the father and grandfather who died in the storm in Valley View.

In another house in the same neighborhood, Loyd Watson lost his life.

“We saw the house was gone,” said neighbor Jesse Helms. “So we headed over there because we knew there were three people there.”

Friends said Watson and his two adult sons were sheltering in their trailer when the tornado struck.

When the neighbors saw that the house had been torn to pieces, they quickly began searching and learned the worst.

“The father was already dead,” said Helms. “Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do for him.”

Watson was found dead at the scene of the accident and his two sons were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

In addition to Watson and Ortiz, three members of the Esparza family died in the tornado near Valley View: Laura Esparza and her two children, 15-year-old Miranda and nine-year-old Marco.

Two siblings, aged two and five, also died when they were thrown out of a nearby house.

Due to age reasons, NBC 5 is not releasing their names at this time.

“My point is that people are not replaceable, but the material,” Helms said. “The material can go, no big deal, we’ll rebuild it. People can’t be brought back.”

Despite the destruction of their homes and buildings, some people who were caught in the tornado’s path were lucky.

They knew that these storms had torn four families apart and that it would take much longer for the wounds to heal.

“These were friends of ours, so I mean, it’s hard, all of this is hard,” Helms said. “There’s damage everywhere, people’s lives are at stake.”

Anyone who would like to support the Ortiz family can contribute to their GoFundMe campaign.