Severe storms ripped through the South Sunday night into early Monday, spawning a damaging tornado in Dallas and contributing to the death of one person in Arkansas.
The National Weather Service said at around 9:30 p.m. CDT that it had visual confirmation of a tornado on the ground in northern Dallas. The tornado was first reported near Dallas Love Field Airport.
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported from the tornado as of early Monday morning, the city of Dallas said. Three people have been hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries.
Local media outlets reported several homes and businesses were damaged, power lines downed and tree limbs were scattered across roadways. The city said there were reports of gas leaks north of Walnut Hill in north Dallas. Police and Fire-Rescue were assessing damaged structures.
Oncor reported nearly 140,000 customers were without power as of early Monday morning in north and central Texas. About half of those outages were in Dallas County.
Seven people escaped a structure that collapsed in northwest Dallas, but Dallas Fire-Rescue were searching to see if anyone was left inside, spokesman Jason Evans said. WFAA reported that a convenience store collapsed in the storm, but the clerk told the station that everyone who was inside made it out safely.
Evans said the department had also received multiple calls from people injured in their homes by broken glass.
Citing extensive damage to campuses, the Dallas Independent School District canceled Monday classes at six schools: David G. Burnet Elementary School, Leonides Gonzalez Cigarroa Elementary School, John J. Pershing Elementary School, Walnut Hill Elementary School, Edward H. Cary Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School. The Episcopal School of Dallas also canceled classes. The schools are all in northwest Dallas.
Severe storms packing damaging winds and large hail also struck parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri Sunday night into early Monday.
One person was killed just after midnight on Monday when a tree fell on a home in Rogers, Arkansas, according to a National Weather Service (NWS) report.
Downed power lines contributed to an attic fire in a home near Bossier City, Louisiana, the NWS said. The occupant of the home was able to escape to safety.
In southern Missouri, a mobile home was blown off its foundation by damaging thunderstorm winds near Willow Springs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
by weather.com (2019, Oct 21)
