Dallas Slammed By At Least 12 Tornados

The Dallas/Fort Worth area was hit hard by a series of tornados on Tuesday afternoon. The tornados left a swath of destruction across the entire suburban area around the two cities. Winds tossed tractor trailers as if they were toys, ripped roofs off homes and businesses as if they were made of matchsticks and left thousands without power.

The city of Lancaster, just south of Dallas, suffered some of the worst damage. Over 150 residents had to stay in a shelter as their homes were too damaged to stay in. Some houses in Lancaster had two by fours speared through them. Over 300 structures in the city were damaged said the Lancaster mayor.

Even though meteorologists said up to 12 tornados were in the area, they said only three of four actually set down and did all the destruction. Early estimates put the total number of homes in the area damaged at 650. The closest a tornado on the ground got to downtown Dallas was estimated to be just five miles.

Airlines at the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport had to cancel flights and divert others to nearby airports. American Airlines has one of its hubs at the airport and had to cancel over 450 flights. More than 100 aircraft sitting outside at the airport suffered damage from hail that looked as though it was falling horizontally due to the strong winds.

Power was out to close to 50,000 homes in the north Texas area. In the suburb of Arlington, close to 12,600 homes still did not have power Wednesday morning.