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Two Tornadoes Touched Down In North Texas During Overnight Storms

Molly Evans
/
KERA News
Damaging winds ripped off tree branches in East Dallas.

Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds plus two tornadoes blew through North Texas overnight Tuesday, prompting power outages and school closures across the region.

One tornado hit North Fort Worth – it moved into Keller and Southlake in Tarrant County. It was an EF-0, the lowest level on the tornado damage scale. A second tornado – an EF-1 — was recorded on the west side of Lewisville in Denton County.

Storm survey teams spent Wednesday investigating damage after severe storms raced across the region.

One person was injured in Rockwall, where winds were estimated to have reached 95 miles per hour.

Several schools were closed Wednesday in the Arlington school district. Elsewhere, entire districts were shut down, including Mansfield ISD.

The storms knocked out power to about 200,000 customers across North Texas. Oncor says it restored power to about 150,000 of those customers in less than 10 hours.

The company produces a map on its website that shows outages in the area.

The National Weather's assessment of the damage

Credit National Weather Service in Fort Worth
/
National Weather Service in Fort Worth
Here's a summary of the hardest hit areas and what the National Weather Service knows as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

School closures

Due to power outages, several schools and colleges in Dallas-Fort Worth are closing for the day or opening later Wednesday. Below is a running list of school closures:

Arlington ISD

The following Arlington schools are closed Wednesday:

  • High schools: Arlington Collegiate, Bowie, Seguin, Venture, Newcomer Center
  • Junior high: Barnett, Nichols, Turning Point, Ousley
  • Elementary schools: Ashworth, Bebensee, Beckham, Bryant, Butler, Fitzgerald, Starrett, West, Williams and Pearcy

Here are more North Texas schools closed Wednesday:

  • Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Dallas. School is canceled Wednesday, but teachers will be available to communicate with students in online classes. 
  • Firewheel Christian Academy in Garland
  • Glen Rose ISD schools
  • Mansfield ISD schools
  • Momentous School in Dallas
  • Mountain View College in southeast Dallas will be closed until noon Wednesday.
  • North Central Texas Academy in Granbury

Storms left one person injured

In Rockwall, straight-line winds up to 95 miles per hour left one person injured and more than a dozen homes significantly damaged in the neighborhood surrounding Hays Elementary School, KXAS (NBC 5) reports. The person was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Several other properties had minor damage like broken windows, the station reports. 

Watch the KXAS story from Rockwall

Repairing storm damage

Watch this video from the Insurance Council of Texas about making claims after a storm, in the event your property is damaged. And here’s a guide to hiring the right roofer from The Dallas Morning News.

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