A line of storms moving across North Texas spawned at least two confirmed tornadoes on Tuesday, including one near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where passengers were briefly urged to shelter in place and hundreds of flights were delayed.
There were two reports of injuries and “multiple reports of homes and businesses damaged” in Wise County, northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where one of the tornadoes touched down, the county’s Office of Emergency Management said in a statement.
One person was injured by flying debris while traveling in their vehicle and treated at the scene, the emergency management office said. The other person was transported to the hospital after high winds overturned an eighteen-wheeler truck, though the emergency management office did not provide information on the hospitalized person’s condition.
The emergency management office said it was still assessing the damage and that the primary areas of concern were south of Decatur, where 6,500 people live, and east of Paradise, a town with less than 500 residents.
“A confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado was located near Decatur,” according to a bulletin from the National Weather Service, issued at 7:20 a.m. Central time. The tornado is no longer a threat to the area, but the line of storms that produced it could spawn more tornadoes as it moves east.
The tornado near the airport was seen on video, according to the Weather Service, crossing a highway near Grapevine, Texas. Passengers were asked to shelter in place because of a tornado warning, which was lifted after the storm passed. About 560 flights into and out of the airport were delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website.
Outdoor warning sirens also blared across Fort Worth at 8:15 a.m. local time. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in Fort Worth.
The storms are part of a weather system that is bringing significant, widespread hazards across the central United States.
More than 30,000 customers in Texas were without power on Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, which aggregates data from utility companies across the country.
The risk of severe storms will move east throughout the day, with more tornadoes possible in the afternoon and evening in eastern Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
By Wednesday, the threat will move east, likely affecting southern Louisiana and Alabama and putting more populated areas, like New Orleans, at risk for severe weather.
Amanda Holpuch contributed reporting.
