A huge wildfire fanned by dry winds has damaged or destroyed at least 300 homes in central Texas

A huge wildfire fanned by dry winds believed to be spawned by Tropical Depression Lee has damaged or destroyed at least 300 homes in central Texas, officials said Monday.
  
"It's catastrophic. It's a major natural disaster," Mark Stanford, fire chief of the Texas Forest Service, told The Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

"There is no arson, no suspicion of arson, and the source is still unknown," Pflugerville spokeswoman Terri Waggoner said. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in much of the affected area, The American-Statesman said.
  
Central Texas has been suffering from a severe drought for much of this summer. Lee came ashore as a tropical storm in southern Louisiana early Sunday, packing sustained winds of about 45 miles (75 kilometers) per hour and threatening tornadoes to a huge area of the southern United States.