Storms leave trail of damage in North Texas

North Texas saw high winds and heavy rain on Tuesday morning, leaving a trail of damage across the area and knocking out power for thousands.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins issued a disaster declaration on Tuesday morning, saying it could take days for some to see their power return.

MORE ON POWER OUTAGES

We may not be done yet. Another round of storms is expected overnight and there are more chances to see severe weather later in the week.

North Texas Storm Damage

The early morning storms took North Texans by surprise.

The hurricane-force winds nearly collapsed a building off Harry Hines in Dallas. And it wasn’t just damaging winds for people to contend with, but also high waters. Heavy downpours caused flash flooding on major roadways, causing major traffic troubles.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has already issued a disaster declaration to help speed up the recovery process.

Many FOX 4 viewers have shared photos and video of what they saw.

Damage in Dallas

The worst of the severe weather inside the Dallas city limits moved through before dawn. Many North Texans were awakened by the pounding wind and rain.

Dallas Fire-Rescue said the strong winds blew part of the roof off a building on Harry Hines Boulevard, prompting several 911 calls. No one was injured, but debris was scattered across the parking lot.

Amanda Murski’s Range Rover was buried underneath a giant tree that was uprooted by the fast-moving straight-line winds. It was parked in the driveway of her daughter’s home.

“It was unbelievable the winds were crazy. Unbelievable,” she said. “I just said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I said, ‘Are you okay?’ And she said yes. So it’s just a vehicle. It’s okay.”

By early afternoon, workers were able to uncover the car. Murski believes it’s a total loss.

Dallas Fire-Rescue said the strong winds blew part of the roof off a building on Harry Hines Boulevard, prompting several 911 calls. No one was injured, but debris was scattered across the parking lot.

Kyle Rogers and his kids were hard at work Tuesday afternoon, trying to clear a large tree branch across his Lake Highlands front yard. 

“This was already blown down by the time we woke up, but it didn’t get on the roof,” he said.

But Rogers’ neighbor wasn’t so lucky. Just a few doors down, a blue tarp covers a gaping hole in the roof. 

The Lake Highlands neighborhood of Northeast Dallas was left littered with debris.

Near Royal and Abrams, power poles were blown over. 

Janice Korkames’ neighborhood near North Buckner Boulevard and Lake Highlands Drive is now going on 15 hours without power. Her power line remains tangled in her metal roof. 

“The wind picked it up and wrapped it around the wire. Hopefully, Oncor will come out and repair it,” she said. “Everybody around the neighborhood is out of power.”

Joseph and his friend finally found ice at a gas station. Both are without power at the Lenox Lake Highlands Apartments. 

“Walmart didn’t have it. Target didn’t have it. The other 7-Eleven didn’t have it,” he said. “I lived in Houston. I’ve gone through all the hurricanes. I’m used to it, I guess.”

The Dallas Zoo also decided to close on Tuesday after seeing the damage.

Garland Damage

Garland was a hard-hit area in Dallas County Tuesday morning. 

Heavy rains caused dangerous flash flooding on 635. Some trees hit homes and cars.

Randy Phipps and his wife woke up to the storm early Tuesday morning. He says they heard a boom and went outside to find a large tree in the road. When they got back inside, a tree crashed through their home. 

“She got in the tub, and I was standing in the hallways looking around. We heard the second boom, and everything just collapsed,” he recalled. “We just came through that door probably two minutes before that happened.”

Before sunrise the strong winds downed power lines and trees, knocking out power to tens of thousands in Dallas County. 

City crews worked quickly to begin clearing roads of downed trees. Garland Power and Light started getting the power lines repaired. 

There was flash flooding on 635 in Garland and residential roads. 

The storm forced Garland ISD to close all schools. 

Phipps is thankful there were no reports of any major injuries. 

“I really don’t care because she is ok. I’m ok,” he said. “No one is hurt. No loss of life. It’s just property damage.”

Richardson/ Plano Damage 

The city of Plano is trying to get the word out to residents that it could be days before power is restored. Crews have been out all afternoon working to make repairs.

The city is urging people to try to find alternate, safe places to stay as the heat and humidity persist.

People at the High Oak Apartments in Richardson said they were getting ready for work when the high winds rushed in. 

Juan Rodriguez says debris hit him in the head, leaving a wound. He took shelter with a neighbor.

“As soon as I locked the door, the ceiling just came down. I got scared. I didn’t know what to do. The sheetrock, wood, everything. A big piece of wood hit me here. I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I could have lost an eye.”

Whitt Smith lives nearby. 

“If I know something is coming in, I will go downstairs to the laundromat to take shelter,” he said. “Today, it came from out of nowhere. Got really bad, really windy. I opened the door and thought, I can’t go out now.”

Elizabeth Rojo was at home with her 1-year-old baby and was also getting ready for work. 

“I went to my sister’s room, and the roof fell,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh my God!’” 

Rojo says they lost practically everything.

“Now, we have nothing. Just our cars,” she said.

The Richardson Fire Department worked to clear streets of huge trees while city sanitation crews were directed to clear smaller debris. 

The strength of the winds ripped parts of the metal roof off from Dimassi’s Mediterranean Buffet on Campbell Road in Richardson. A manager said they were working quickly to get a tarp in place before more storms arrived. 

The roof trapped two cars from the nearby McDonalds. 

In Plano, the side of Prestonwood Baptist’s worship center was ripped off. 

“The church building in Plano was hit this morning very hard. We’ve lost a side of the building. We have flooding in the building. It could have been much worse,” said Pastor Jack Graham. “But due to the quick action of the facilities team, security and our staff, we’ve minimized the damage early.”

Within hours, hundreds turned out to volunteer to help with the cleanup.         

Plano resident Donna Lackey woke up to storm warning sirens going off at 6 a.m. Thirty minutes later, her power went out and doesn’t know when it’ll come back on. 

“We got trees down everywhere,” she said. “We were scared to death. That was so windy.” 

The Lackeys have little debris to clean up compared to their neighbors across the street.

Steve Stoler with the city of Plano says hundreds were out helping with clean-up throughout the day on Tuesday.

“The blocked streets and alleyways so people can travel. People can leave their homes. So that’s a priority. And really the emphasis is on these power outages,” he said.

Generators are giving power to 10 city of Plano facilities, including the 911 call center and 30 traffic lights. 

“When you have the electric company, Oncor, telling us they don’t know how long it’s gonna be, what we want to do is prepare our residents,” Stoler said.

Lackey says she’s prepared.

“What are you gonna do? That’s all there is to it,” she said.

Lackey just hopes the next round of storms won’t pack such a big punch. 

“It’s quite a time,” she said. “I won’t forget it. That’s for sure.” 

Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries in Richardson or Plano.

“We do pray for people who lost lives, families, homes obliterated by these storms,” Graham said. “As far as the church goes, this can all be repaired.”

North Texas Storm Conditions

The strongest wind gusts from this morning’s storms were seen in The Colony where they topped out at 95 miles per hour.

DFW Airport reported seeing 77 mph wind gusts and Love Field saw 76 mph gusts.

Multiple 18-wheelers were knocked over by the high winds.

DFW, Love Field flight delays, cancelations

More than 200 flights out of DFW and 100 from Love Field were canceled as of Tuesday afternoon, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.

Hundreds more were delayed.

School, events canceled

Garland ISD made the decision to close all schools on Wednesday as well.

DeSoto ISD announced that it is delaying the start of school by 2 hours because of temporary power interruptions at campuses.

Dallas ISD students are already out for the summer. But because of the weather, the district canceled all summer activities, events, camps, and athletics on Tuesday.

More than 60 schools were without power. All DISD phones are down, and crews are working to get them back up and running.

The school district is asking all non-essential employees to work from home for the time being.

Dallas Weather Forecast

The morning storm system was the first of two expected on Tuesday.

The second is expected in the nighttime hours into the early morning on Wednesday, especially to the west of the DFW area and south. Those storms could also be severe.

Damaging wind and large hail are the biggest concerns on Tuesday night, but there could also be an isolated tornado.

Be sure to have multiple ways to receive severe weather alerts overnight.

Live Radar – North Texas

7-Day Forecast

Storm chances are plentiful in the 7-day forecast. We have a shot at rain for the entire week.