Storms pummel Dallas as half a million homes in North Texas lose power

Ferocious winds and heavy rain swept through North Texas early Tuesday, flooding roads, downing trees and power lines and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people.

Many in the Dallas area woke to the wail of tornado sirens when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning.

“Take cover now!” the weather service in Fort Worth said at 6:13 a.m. on X. The storm packed nearly 80 mph winds, golf ball-sized hail and the threat of flash floods.

Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins issued an emergency declaration and warned some residents will be without power for days. At a news conference Tuesday, Lewis Jenkins said the extent of the damage and number of people affected make this storm unusual, and he urged patience in the days ahead.

“I’ve been doing this for 14 years and I don’t remember ever having a multiday event quite like this one,” he said.

The storm comes just days after a tornado tore through North Texas, killing seven and injuring more than 100 people around Valley View, a town about 60 miles northwest of Dallas.

On Tuesday, crews assessed and cleared damage across the Dallas area as smaller storms popped up throughout the day, and were expected to continue their efforts through the night.

“This is one of those events where no one was entirely spared,” said Travis Houston, the city’s emergency management office director.

Thousands without power

Hours after the storm, roughly 488,000 people remained without power across the region, according to Oncor’s outage map. The bulk were in Dallas County, where more than 298,000 were still without power.

A 9 p.m. update from the city said Oncor reported 190,687 customers in Dallas were without power.

Power for critical infrastructure — such as hospitals and nursing homes, which may be running on generators — will be prioritized, Lewis Jenkins said. County officials are working with cities to open cooling spaces at recreation centers.

Grant Cruise, a spokesperson for Oncor, said at a Tuesday news conference that some downed power lines will require complete rebuilding rather than simple repairs. Oncor has requested assistance from other utility agencies across Texas and other states, and crews are repairing lines as quickly as possible, he said.

More storms are expected to batter the region this week, complicating efforts to restore power, and forecasters said they cannot rule out additional tornadoes. Steve Fano, a weather service meteorologist, said it’s possible residents will again wake to emergency weather alerts, similar to Tuesday morning.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Fano said.

Damage was widespread across Dallas, but the most prevalent was on the city’s east side, and some libraries and recreation centers were without power.

The fire department responded to 144 calls of downed utility lines, 95 motor vehicle accidents and almost 20 calls involving high water or requiring a boat rescue, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jason Evans said. The extent of any injuries was unknown.

Residents can call 311 to report downed trees. The Dallas Department of Transportation reported 316 traffic signals are out and 122 are flashing, according to a 9 p.m. city news release.

A Far East Dallas warehouse also caught fire early Tuesday after apparently being struck by lightning, according to Evans. The fire was reported shortly before 8 a.m. in the 2400 block of Santa Anna Avenue while the building was closed. Evans said no one was hurt and described the fire damage as “minimal.”

Closures and delays

Severe weather caused numerous closures and delays, including Tuesday’s primary runoff election.

Dallas County opened several polling locations late and planned to remain open two extra hours, until 9 p.m., and some polling locations in Collin, Rockwall and Denton were without power.

The Dallas Zoo said it took a “significant hit” from the storms and closed Tuesday while staff assessed damage and cleared downed trees and limbs.

A tree in the Wings of Wonder exhibit snapped between habitats for the red-legged seriema and the spectacled owl, blocking a walkway. Another large branch landed atop a nearby food truck, and in other areas of the zoo workers were clearing debris from the lemur and flamingo habitats.

All animals were accounted for Tuesday, zoo spokesperson Devan George said.

Because of the sweltering springtime heat, most animals were already inside before the severe conditions began, George said. The remainder of the animals were brought indoors in anticipation of worsening weather.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit said it experienced delays because of fallen tree limbs across tracks, power outages and other issues related to the inclement weather.

Delays and cancellations piled up at area airports. As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, 17% of flights leaving Dallas Love Field and 13% of flights leaving DFW International Airport were canceled, according to FlightAware. Nearly one-third of flights were delayed at both airports.

Schools have also been impacted by the severe weather, with Garland ISD closing Tuesday and Wednesday due to safety concerns and power outages.

Grand Prairie ISD’s graduation ceremonies have also potentially been impacted by the power outages. The ceremonies, which are scheduled for tomorrow at Texas Trust CU Theatre, may have to be postponed to Friday if the theater does not get power back in time. The district said it plans to let students know by 9 a.m. Wednesday.

‘All hell broke loose’

Dallas residents said the rain hit with seemingly little warning. Quran Coleman, a security supervisor for the Republic Center in downtown Dallas, was walking to work as the storm hit.

”It was like someone poured water on my head,” Coleman said. “Literally in like two minutes, it went from nothing to all hell broke loose. … I’ve never seen anything happen that fast.”

In northwest Dallas, steady rain drenched piles of plastic foam that coated the parking lot of Rainbow Hardware. The roof of the store in the 10700 block of Harry Hines Boulevard “blew off,” owner Manny Singh said, scattering the insulation, in addition to cracked planks of wood, scraps of metal, wiring and shards of glass from lighting fixtures.

Singh was still assessing the damage about 9:45 a.m., but said there were several holes in the roof, and in some places about six inches of water inside.

“The inventory is all damaged,” he said. “And the rain is not stopping.”

Near downtown Dallas, some road signs bent at nearly a 90-degree angle. Tree branches were down and several traffic lights flashed red.

Rose Garcia, a barista at Starbucks on Commerce Street, said hail, high gusts of wind and sheets of rain made it nearly impossible to walk outside.

“It looked as if we were on a cruise ship with the high wind,” Garcia said.

Photos: Severe thunderstorms move through Dallas-Fort Worth

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Tree branches smashed into cars in Dallas’ Vickery Meadow neighborhood. Several small businesses, including Torteria Insurgentes and El Centro Super Market Center, were without power, but workers still arrived at 8 a.m. to begin their shifts.

Employees said they navigated car accidents and tree branches, which blocked the roads, while driving to work.

“We have no option but to come to work. But without power, there is nothing we can do,” said Jonathan Campo, who works at El Centro Super Market Center.

Structures in Fair Park saw considerable damage.

During a Tuesday board meeting, Dee Hirsch, assistant general manager of OVG360, the company that runs the park, told board members 10 power poles, associated transformers and lines were knocked down and led to power outages in buildings like the Food and Fiber Pavilion, Centennial Hall and the Pan American Arena.

Damages to the roof had water seeping into the exhibition space of the pavilion. The top of the Portico of France in the Automobile Building had peeled off.

“The good news is we know how to fix it,” Hirsch said, citing a similar issue in 2020. “Bad news is we have rain in the forecast.”

Bailey Clampitt, Carrollton’s public safety information manager, said authorities responded to 70 calls for service during the storm. Three of those were water rescues, she said.

In Carrollton’s Koreatown, at least half a dozen people who work in the area told The Dallas Morning News their shops were flooded. As temperatures climbed into the upper 70s Tuesday afternoon, employees were mopping up water and carrying out wet cardboard boxes full of inventory.

Su Youn Kim, who operates a hair salon in the area, was locking up her business with her dog, Dong-Soon-Ee, in her arms. She said she rushed to the salon after people from nearby businesses told her about the flooding.

”The people next to me got it a lot worse,” Kim said in Korean. “How could this happen?”

Here is the latest KXAS-TV (NBC5) weather forecast:

TUESDAY: Partly cloudy and very warm with a 30% chance of a storm. Low: 72. High: 89. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy and warm with a 40% chance of a storm. Low: 69. High: 85. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.

THURSDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy and warm with a 40% chance of a storm. Low: 70. High: 85. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.

FRIDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy and warm with a 40% chance of a storm. Low: 72. High: 85. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.

SATURDAY: Partly to mostly cloudy and warm with a 30% chance of a storm. Low: 72. High: 87. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.

Contributing to this report were staff writers Everton Bailey Jr., Sofia Barnett, Gabrielle Beechert, Devyani Chhetri, Hojun Choi, Amber Gaudet, Julia James, Aria Jones, Lilly Kersh, Arcelia Martin, María Ramos Pacheco, Marcela Rodrigues, Chase Rogers, Kelli Smith, Alexandra Skores. Marin Wolf and breaking news editor Carol Taylor.