STORM2K

From WFAA ABC 8 and The Dallas Morning News

North Texas motorists may encounter difficulties Thursday morning after storms knocked out power to dozens of intersections and caused minor street flooding and other damage.

At least 50 Dallas intersections were under conflict, meaning “that either they are out totally or they are flashing red,” said Dale Long, a spokesman for the city of Dallas.

Long said city crews will put up portable, four-way stop signs until power is restored. Then they will return to the utility box for the traffic controls at each intersection and reset them to normal.

“So it looks like we’ll be doing this for the next 24 hours,” he said.

Most of the intersections in question involve side streets, although the lights reportedly were out at Abrams Road and the LBJ Freeway, according to the city’s traffic management center.

Long encouraged drivers to be cautious.

“If they encounter an intersection where the lights are flashing red or they are totally out, the intersection should be treated as a four-way stop until the normal signal is reset,” he said.

WFAA-TV meteorologist Greg Fields said 60 mph wind gusts had been reported in Dallas. A large tree was down at the Belo Mansion on Ross Avenue and newspaper vending boxes and tree limbs posed traffic hazards on streets, according to WFAA pictures.

Flooding was reported on the northbound access road of I-35 near Motor Street north of downtown.

Along I-30 at Jim Miller Road, debris from construction had clogged drains and caused flooding, forcing traffic to be diverted onto access roads. Emergency crews eventually unclogged the drains and restored traffic flow.

TXU Electric Delivery reported that about 70,000 homes and businesses in North Texas were without power.

Spokeswoman Carol Peters the damage to electrical service was widespread.

"We have called in all available crews. They will be working around the clock to get the power back on," Ms. Peters said.

Mr. Fields said more potentially damaging weather could arrive by Thursday afternoon.

"Later this afternoon, heading into the evening, we could have another outbreak of severe thunderstorms," he said.
_____________________________________________________________

Real-time Dallas/Ft. Worth Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse

Storms cause flooding, knock out power

From WFAA ABC 8 and The Dallas Morning News

Overnight rain and heavy winds caused street flooding and widespread power outages in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, leading to headaches for Thursday morning commuters—and more storms were forecast for later in the day.

"Flooding is going to be the biggest problem this morning," said News 8 meteorologist Greg Fields. "We're not out of the woods by a long shot."

TXU Electric Delivery said about 80,000 homes in North Texas were blacked out during the storms. "We have called in all available crews," said TXU spokeswoman Carol Peters. "They will be working around the clock to get the power back on."

Police were guiding motorists at major intersections where traffic signals ceased to function, including busy South Cooper Street at Interstate 20 in Arlington.

City of Dallas spokesman Dale Long said about 50 traffic lights were malfunctioning.

Powerful winds clocked at up to 70 mph in downtown Dallas shattered glass at an office tower in the 1500 block of Elm Street and uprooted a large tree outside the historic Belo Mansion in the Dallas Arts District. The falling tree did minor damage to the facade of the 19th century building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Street flooding was reported in several locations during the morning rush hour. Interstate 30 was shut down for several hours at Jim Miller Road in East Dallas after construction material clogged sewer drains and water backed up on the road surface.

Another problem spot was the northbound service road on Interstate 35E at Motor Street in Dallas, where high water led to delays on the main highway.

Fields said there was a possibility of more strong storms later Thursday afternoon and into the evening hours. "Some of the rain will be locally heavy and flooding will be a concern over most areas of North Texas," he said.

Fields added that the weekend outlook was better, with stormy skies moving out and highs in the mid-80s.

WFAA-TV reporters Cynthia Vega and Rebecca Lopez in Dallas and Karin Kelly in Arlington and The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.
_____________________________________________________________

Real-time Dallas/Ft. Worth Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse

More storms headed to D-FW

From The Dallas Morning News

After a round of violent thunderstorms early Thursday, meteorologists said North Texas is likely to experience more turbulent weather Thursday night or Friday morning as a potent upper-level storm system pushes through the region.

Gary Woodall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the storm should bring heavy rain, hail and high winds, but pass through by Friday afternoon.

Thursday morning’s storm moved across North Texas from west to east, dumping 2 to 3 inches of rain in Dallas, and causing winds of up to 77 mph and quarter-sized hail in Tarrant County.

The early morning storm wreaked all types of damage, tossing newspaper vending boxes and tree limbs into the streets, according to WFAA pictures.

A 100-year-old pecan tree was destroyed on the west side of the historic Belo Mansion, which is home to the Dallas Bar Association. Century-old photos of the neoclassical revival mansion included the tree, Bar Association spokeswoman Darlene Hutchinson said.

“There’s the nostalgia of it,” she said. “It’s kind of sad. You don’t see trees like this in downtown. It added to the ambiance of the house.”

TXU Electric Delivery reported that about 40,000 homes and businesses in North Texas remained without power at 10 a.m.

Spokeswoman Carol Peters the damage to electrical service was widespread, with up to 80,000 customers left without power immediately following the storm. She said the severe storms moving in later Thursday could extend restoration time beyond the current 24-hour estimate.

"We have called in all available crews. They will be working around the clock to get the power back on," Ms. Peters said.

Grapevine and Colleyville Heritage high schools dismissed students at 10 a.m. Thursday because they have no electricity. The Grapevine-Colleyville district received permission from the Texas Education Agency to delay TAKS testing for one day.

In Fort Worth, Eastern Hills High School also experienced a power outage, and district officials said the school will close at noon Thursday. Normal bus service will be provided, and other students without transportation will be held at the school until a parent or guardian can pick them up, officials said.

The storm also darkened traffic signals across the area. Traffic Pulse executive producer Nancy Leggio said the outages slowed the morning commute, but only a few isolated accidents were reported.

“I expected it to be a lot worse this morning,” she said.

By late morning, city crews in Dallas were working to get 16 intersection traffic signals operating, spokesman Dale Long said, though he said they may have a difficult time keeping up with demand if more power failures occur.

“We expect more rain and thunderstorms today and tomorrow,” he said. “We may be chasing our tails for a while, but the crew is ready for it.”

City crews are not notified about power failures until the power is restored and the red lights start flashing, Mr. Long said. The city is testing a battery-operated backup system that costs $5,000 apiece and can keep the traffic signal operating with no electricity for two hours.

Firefighters received a few overnight calls about stalled cars and downed power lines, Dallas Fire-Rescue Lt. Joel Lavender said.

“We’re just extremely fortunate that we had no loss of life and had minimal problems,” he said. “If the storm would have come in during rush hour we probably would have had a different outcome,” he said.

Lt. Lavender said he hoped the upcoming storm is similarly timed.

“We know we are not out of the woods,” he said. “This next one may take place during the workday when families are not home.”

Thursday’s storms coincide with the opening of the nationally recognized Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival, where artisans, musicians and performance artists pack the streets for four days.

Laura Squires, a spokeswoman for the festival, said the storm blew over a few unfinished booths and signs. “It was really mild over here,” she said. “I was really expecting more when I got down here. There’s really not much to see as far as damage.”

Last year, the festival closed early on Sunday, shutting down Polka band Brave Combo’s performance, because of storms. Ms. Squires said it’s the price paid for scheduling the event in the spring.

“April showers. That’s what you expect,” she said. “It also makes for some great 70-degree days out here. So we’ll take it.”

The festival will go on as planned, even under light rain. If the weather turns severe, volunteers will circle through the crowds, alerting exhibiters to close their booths and festival goers to move inside, Ms. Squires said.

The event is expected to attract 400,000 to 500,000 people during its run.

“We’ll probably have a lower number today than we would expect for the opening day,” Ms. Squires said. “But the weekend’s supposed to be really pretty, so they may all come Saturday and Sunday to make up for it.”

The weather service predicts mostly sunny skies on Saturday and partly cloudy skies on Sunday, with a high temperature of 84 degrees on both days.

Staff writers Kimberly Durnan, Linda Leavell and Phil Oakley and WFAA-TV contributed to this report.


ANTHONY TREJO/DallasNews.com
Overnight storms knocked down a tree at the Belo Mansion.