Severe thunderstorm and tornado watches were issued for more than 10 million residents in Texas and neighboring Louisiana as the weather worsened.
Dallas – Powerful thunderstorms ripped through the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and Houston on Tuesday, knocking out power to more than a million utility customers as severe weather raged across the region, bringing baseball-sized hail and hurricane-force winds that caused extensive damage in some areas.
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Outdoor warning sirens blared and cellphones rang with emergency notifications as the National Weather Service issued numerous severe thunderstorm watches and tornado warnings across North Texas.
Dallas County appears to have been particularly hard hit by the power outages, with officials warning that the outages could last for days.
Outdoor warning sirens were sounded in Dallas early Tuesday morning after a series of powerful, severe thunderstorms ripped through the city.
Additionally, Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said he directed the district attorney’s office to prepare a disaster declaration due to the severe weather and power outages, which he signed Tuesday afternoon.
This latest dangerous weather comes just days after a tornado ripped through the Texas community of Valley View, killing at least seven people, including a child, and injuring more than 100 others.
The tornado was the deadliest to strike Texas since 2015.
Texas storms flip trailers, rip roofs off buildings
Extensive damage was reported in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and across North Texas, with millions of people bracing for a return of dangerous severe weather expected later Tuesday.
In Collin County, north of Dallas, emergency responders reported hail the size of baseballs near Raleigh Crossing, and hail the size of ping-pong balls and nickels in several other communities.
Video taken in Carrollton, Texas, shows a powerful thunderstorm moving through the area on Tuesday morning, bringing lightning, heavy rain and damaging wind gusts.
Damaging winds were also reported, with gusts of 83 mph near Denton and 75 mph at Dallas Love Field Airport.
The extreme weather has also caused trees to snap in several areas, including Garland and Dallas.
Authorities said a building collapsed in the Louisville area and several crashes were reported on Interstate 35 in the area.
Storm watchers also reported the roof was torn off a commercial building in Addison.
Frisco emergency officials said two adjacent homes in the Hollyhock neighborhood were struck by lightning just after 6 a.m. local time, with one of the homes suffering extensive fire damage.
And in Houston just two weeks ago, a powerful storm passed through the downtown area, shattering glass in high-rise buildings.
Outside the metro, several homes under construction in Magnolia, Texas, were destroyed by the severe storm.
In West Texas, thunderstorm winds likely produced a dust storm that quickly reduced visibility in the Midland suburb of Midkiff, Texas.
Photos and video showed at least one pileup, backing up traffic in the area.
The bad weather in Texas isn’t over yet
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Millions of people in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado are under severe thunderstorm watches as thunderstorms move across the region.
Tornado watches were also issued for parts of Texas on Tuesday, including the cities of Lubbock, Childress and Brownfield.
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The Texas cities of Houston, Lubbock, Pasadena, Beaumont and Midland are categorized as a Level 3 out of 5 severe weather risk on NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center’s five-point severe thunderstorm danger scale, while cities such as San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi and Amarillo are categorized as a Level 2 out of 5 severe thunderstorm danger scale.
The Level 2 threat extends into the east, including Louisiana cities such as Alexandria and Shreveport.
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The main threat from severe thunderstorms on Tuesday will be damaging wind gusts and large hail, with some already being reported in parts of Texas on Tuesday morning.
Additionally, tornadoes are possible in parts of Texas.
More than 20 people killed in severe weather over Memorial Day weekend in five states
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A threat of rainy weather is expected to continue across Texas throughout the week, with energy from the Pacific Northwest producing showers and thunderstorms that could extend eastern into the Rocky Mountains and High Plains, according to computer forecast models.
Because of dispersed activity, flooding may occur where thunderstorms repeatedly move over the same area.
Widespread rainfall of 2 to 3 inches is expected over the next five days, with some areas expected to get close to 5 inches by the weekend.
No flood watches have been issued due to the extended flooding, but the National Weather Service is expected to issue flood warnings if necessary as thunderstorms could develop across more than 1,400 miles of the country.
While daily precipitation continues, hail and strong winds are expected to be the biggest concern across the Plains, with the possibility of isolated tornadoes not being ruled out.
The continuing threat of wet weather is a reminder that any thunderstorm can produce life-threatening lightning, heavy rain and gusty winds.
Much of Texas was bracing for thunderstorms to dump 3 to 5 inches of rain over Memorial Day week.
