Storms bring rain, damage, blackouts

[TexasStooge]

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

TERRELL, Texas — Friday afternoon brought a dramatic end to a week of wet weather in North Texas.

The rush hour rainfall inundated almost every city, town and suburb surrounding Dallas. TXU said about 30,000 customers—most of them in Plano, Richardson, and parts of Northeast Dallas—were without power Friday night as a result of weather-related problems.

In Terrell, about 40 miles east of Dallas, a powerful storm cell hit town about 4:30 p.m. bringing wind gusts up to 50 mph, knocking the roofs from about a half dozen buildings, police said.

As employees of the Terrell Feed Store looked over damaged equipment and soggy feed bags, they felt fortunate about their decision to flee to the safety of the office when the storm hit.

"A neighbor called and said, 'Your roof just blew off!'" feed store worker Derek Cameron recalled. "He wasn't kidding. I walked out here, the roof was off. There's a heck of a lot of damage."

A few blocks away, Clay White, the owner of the Stop and Go Car Wash, looked over a similar scene. His roof flipped over on a neighboring animal clinic.

"I noticed something didn't look right and so we drove over here and noticed that we had all this damage to the car wash," White said. "Some kind of natural disaster or something."

At the A&M Mini Warehouse across the street, the Huff family examined the now-ruined household belongings they had been storing while remodeling their home.

"We still have some stuff in the house, but I feel like it's a great loss," said Roddie Huff. "But—you know—no one was hurt, and that's a blessing in itself."

Randy Childress also feels grateful. As high winds kicked up, he felt a thump on his roof. "I thought that maybe the tree was going to fall through the house," he said. "Fortunately, it didn't; it just fell on the roof."

Terrell police said despite the force of the storms, no one was hurt.

WFAA-TV's Dan Ronan in Dallas contributed to this report.


WFAA ABC 8
A Terrell feed store warehouse lost its roof in the storm.


WFAA ABC 8
High winds blew the roof off a Terrell storage facility.

[TexasStooge]

Rainstorm knocks out electricity

N. Texas: Flights diverted; 29,000 without power

By PAUL MEYER / The Dallas Morning News

A summer deluge Friday blew away roofs, knocked out power and diverted airline flights as storms moved through North Texas.

Turbulent skies forced controllers to redirect 10 planes from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, including an American Airlines flight from Chicago that ended up at Dallas Love Field.

Two hundred outbound flights were delayed, D/FW spokesman David Magaña said Friday afternoon after the tempest passed the airport.

On the ground, tens of thousands of people were without power at the height of the downpour that knocked over some trees, according to TXU Electric Delivery. About 29,000 homes and businesses, mostly in North Dallas and northeastern Dallas County, were still without power Friday night, said TXU spokesman George Hedrick.

He said that he expected many customers would have electricity restored Friday night but that others may be in areas where work won't be completed until today.

At Loews' Cityplace, Melody Townsel was watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with her 5-year-old daughter when the theater went black. The show never went on as patrons were evacuated because of a possible fire, Ms. Tounsel said.

"They said, 'Get to your cars and go, and come back with your tickets another day,' " she said.

In Terrell, police said, 50 mph winds stripped roofs from businesses, downed power lines and damaged at least two homes.

One of those was said to have suffered roof damage from a lightning strike, police said. No injuries were reported.

"Work is ongoing now to restore power," said George Hedrick, a spokesman for TXU. "Many can be restored quickly."

More than 2 inches of rain fell in parts of Dallas, including downtown where 2.24 inches were reported, according to the National Weather Service. D/FW Airport reported 0.20 inches.

National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Patrick said the rain wouldn't cure drought conditions in the area.

"It's going to help, but it's not really going to alleviate it," he said.

"We're still looking at 5- to 6-inch rainfall deficits for the year."

A chance of storms remains through the weekend.

Troy Dungan, chief weather forecaster for WFAA ABC 8, said that today might be like Friday, but then the storm chances will taper off.

Mr. Dungan said the weather wild card was what path Hurricane Emily takes. Changes to that storm's track could bring more wet weather to the area next week, he said.


NATHAN HUNSINGER/Dallas Morning News
A pedestrian braved the storm at Oak Lawn and Lemmon avenues Friday afternoon. More than 2 inches fell in some areas.