Waterspout comes ashore in Galveston

By Chris Paschenko & Rhiannon Meyers / The Daily News & Kevin Reece / 11 News
GALVESTON, Texas — The National Weather Service confirmed a waterspout came ashore in Galveston on Sunday damaging buildings, knocking out power and injuring at least three people.

It happened soon after a strong line of storms moved into the county, and the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning. A waterspout is a tornado that forms over water.

Dolphin World, a souvenir shop in the 2900 block of Seawall Boulevard, was damaged about 9:45 p.m. Debris covered the streets.

Ironically, Dolphin World survived Hurricane Ike with very little damage. But after this storm, things were different.

“It’s very, very bad. Very difficult. Basically everything inside is gone. Brings back memory of Ike,” Schlomo Hamo of Dolphin World said.

Witnesses told The Daily News that a piece of the roof from Dolphin World struck a man who was pushing his bicycle down the seawall. They said he was taken away by ambulance.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

CNN) -- Three boaters who were stranded at sea for more than a week were being reunited with their families Sunday.

Three missing boaters were returned safely to Port Aransas, Texas, after their rescue on Saturday.

A day after the U.S. Coast Guard said it was suspending its weeklong search for the boaters, the men were found alive Saturday night.

The crew of a Good Samaritan vessel found Curtis Hall, 28, James Phillips, 30, and Tressel Hawkins, 43, sitting on top of their capsized 23-foot fishing vessel about 180 miles from Port Aransas, Texas, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

The men had been missing at sea since they failed to return from a fishing trip on August 22.

The Coast Guard had called off their search Friday after it said it had looked over more than 86,000 square miles.

Hall went to a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, but left after he waited too long in the emergency room, his mother told CNN. He returned to his home in Palacio, Texas, to rest and will see a doctor later on Sunday for what he thinks are second-degree burns on his legs from sun exposure, she said.

After the rescue, Phillips was on his way home to reunite with his family, his wife, Shane, told CNN. He did not seek medical attention, she said.

Hawkins suffered open sores on his legs after floating in the water for eight days, he told CNN from the emergency room of a Corpus Christi hospital. He plans to leave the hospital soon and head to Fort Worth, Texas, to reunite with his family, he said. E-mail to a friend | Mixx it | Share

Freak shooting claims boy

HOUSTON – KHOU A tragic accident has claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy in Southwest Houston.

View larger E-mail Clip More Video
It happened on Wednesday evening.

Police say a telephone was ringing inside of his family’s home on Blanchard Hill Lane and the boy was trying to find it.

He tossed his mom's backpack to the floor and a pistol that was inside the backpack went off.

The boy was shot in the head and died.

Police say at this time it does not appear any laws were broken. The gun was in the home legally

Pearland man helps passengers on Continental flight 128

By Kevin Reece and Jeremy Desel / 11 News
HOUSTON – Passengers aboard Continental flight 128 arrived in Houston Monday with a terrifying tale to share.

As emergency vehicles rushed to the plane on the Miami tarmac, catering truck elevators were used to rescue injured passengers.

Diego Saavedra was on the plane. He said passengers and flight attendants were flying inside the cabin.

“All of a sudden, the plane like takes a dip and rises up and you see people going off their seats, people screaming,” said Saavedra. “One lady, she just came out of her seat and flew over the middle row, hit her head on the wall and landed on her back.”

Passengers took pictures inside the plane that show items falling out of the ceiling and cracked plastic.

The damage was caused by flight attendants and passengers hitting the ceiling, said John Norwood who was also on the flight.

“People who weren’t belted in flew up and hit the ceiling, so their faces and heads hit the plastics and broke the plastics all at the top,” said Norwood.

Celi Defaria hit the roof too. She has a scar that runs the length of the right side of her face.

“All of a sudden it came down. Everybody bumped heads twice because it came down again," she said. "It was terrifying. It happened in one faction of a second."

The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. while most passengers were sleeping.

“I’ve never seen turbulence like that. I really thought we wouldn’t make it,” said Giovani Loss.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE