On Tuesday, violent tornadoes and severe thunderstorms (video below) whipped through East and Central Texas, multiple news outlets report. One damaging twister carved an eight mile wide "swathe of destruction" through Van Zandt county, leaving power lines down, roof shingles ripped off structures and damage to 100+ homes reported.

The storms arrived as Texas continues to battle 11 of the wildfires that have--over the past several weeks--affected all but two of the state's 254 counties. "We're in a particularly dangerous situation weather-wise," one National Weather service meteorologist told Fox News.

Currently, over 1.5 million acres have been scorched as fire crews from 43 states have been shipped in to support the state's efforts to contain the remaining major blazes.The state's severe drought has manifest itself into 8,000 fires over the past year alone, the Texas Forest Service estimated. Today, Accuweather projected that the greatest fire danger "is shifting into southern Texas as a front dips southward through the state, ushering in extremely dry air."

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Erik Hayden