Mother of four killed by tornado in Garland

A Mesquite mother of four was killed Saturday night when her vehicle was thrown by a tornado in Garland.

Petra Porras, 27, was driving home to Mesquite about 6:45 p.m. and was facetiming with her husband. She was returning from a hair salon appointment and the two were talking about dinner plans when things changed quickly.

"She started screaming and the call disconnected.  I tried to call her back, tried to call her back and I couldn't," said husband Ruben Porras.

Ruben was able to trace the location of the facetime call to Interstate 30 and the Bush Turnpike. He drove over as quickly as possible, but had a bad feeling about what he was going to find. He wound up finding Petra's car.

“When I got there I looked inside the car and I grabbed her hand and I tried to talk to her but she wasn’t responding to me. It was the worst day ever,” Ruben Porras said.

Authorities said Petra's Yukon was thrown off the overpass at I-30 and the Bush Turnpike.

"I just feel like something inside of me died. A part of me died with her,” Ruben Porras said.

Now he and his four young girls face a startling new reality – life without Petra. Her mother was still in shock on Sunday night.

“She was taken from us so fast. I still can’t believe it,” said Porras’ mother Dominga Ruiz.

The National Weather Service said an EF-4 tornado, which is the second-most powerful with winds up to more than 200 mph, hit the Garland-area at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Its deadliest impact in the city was near the intersection where Porras died, which is a major route in the region.

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