April 15, 2008
0230Z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite
April 11, 2008, 9:11PM
At least 8 tornadoes swept through Texas (click here)
© 2008 The Associated Press
DALLAS — At least eight tornadoes and a line of intense thunderstorms were responsible for widespread wind damage in North Texas, the National Weather Service said Friday.
The storms snapped utility poles, peeled roofs from buildings and sent trees crashing into homes, but no deaths were reported. There were several injuries, including one gas field worker who lost an arm when the storms hit while he was inside a trailer at a drilling site.
Areas where tornadoes touched down Wednesday night and Thursday morning included: south of the town of Breckenridge in Stephens County; the city of Breckenridge; Palo Pinto County near Oran; north of Alvarado in Johnson County; DeSoto in Dallas County; McKinney in Collin County; San Angelo; and Leary in Bowie County, said Jesse Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
Most of the tornadoes packed winds around 90 mph, while the Leary tornado had winds up to 125 mph, Moore said.
"This damaging line of thunderstorms was part of one of the most active 24-hour periods in recent North Texas weather history," National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Bunting wrote in his report.
Damage estimates in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are expected to top $35 million, said Sandra Helin, a spokeswoman for the Southwestern Insurance Information Service.
"We expect that figure to rise significantly as adjusters continue to assess damage and as homeowners inspect their homes over the weekend," Helin said.
About 25,000 customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area remained without power Friday evening, said Rob Trimble, president and CEO of Oncor.
