04 Apr Numerous tornadoes rip through Dallas-Fort Worth community

Numerous tornadoes rip through Dallas-Fort Worth community

Up to a dozen tornadoes skipped through the largely populated Dallas-Fort Worth neighborhood in Texas on Tuesday, pulling apart homes, tossing tractor-trailer trucks into the air and injuring at least 17 homeowners, but there were no reported deaths.  Ten to 12 tornadoes touched down during a massive storm that brought chaos from high winds, rain and hail damage to the nation’s fourth most populous metropolitan community, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jesse Moore.

Many of the 6.3 million community residents were forced to scramble for safety as the storm bore down during the Super Early afternoon, when schools and workplaces were open.

Seven homeowners were injured in the suburb of Arlington, police said. Most suffered only mild injuries but one person hit by a falling tree was in critical condition, said Arlington police spokeswoman Cheryl Carpenter. In one of the hardest hit areas south of Dallas, Lancaster, tornadoes damaged 300 structures.

Of the 10 home owners injured in Lancaster, two of them were severely hurt, said Lancaster police spokesman Paul Beck.

Authorities were amazed that no one was killed given the intensity of the storm, the number of tornadoes and the population density of the area. “We dodged a big bullet … It really is a miracle,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said in an interview on CNN.

The survival rate from a tornado is higher during the daylight hours and hours because homeowners are more likely to hear or see the warnings and take cover, meteorologists said. Twisters are most deadly when individuals are sleeping at night, they said.

One tornado lifted trucks like toys said a truck driver who caught the destruction on his video camera as debris swirled through the air.

“We’ve seen roofs blown off, houses totally flattened, tractor-trailers knocked over,” said the truck driver.

On Tuesday evening, the storm system moved east into Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana with the potential of producing high winds and more tornadoes. Nearby Arlington elementary school students had to duck and cover for two hours. The kids were seated, lined upwards against a wall in their classrooms and covered their heads. “The power went out so it was dark and hot.”  It was confirmed later that the tornado passed about 200 yards from two schools.

UNITED STATES TORNADO SEASON STARTS EARLY

Some 110 planes were damaged by hail and four hundred flights cancelled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the eighth busiest in the world, stranding thousands of individuals. Another 40 incoming flights were redirected.

During the peak of the storm, witnesses at the airport said the sky turned dark-colored and travelers were herded away from windows and into stairwells and wash room. The U.S. tornado season has started EARLY this year.

Tornadoes have been blamed for 57 deaths so far in 2012 in the Midwest and South, raising concerns that this year would be a repeat of 2011, the deadliest year in nearly a century for the unpredictable storms.

In 2011, there were 550 tornado deaths, including 316 lives lost on April 27 in five southern states, and a massive tornado that killed 161 homeowners in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22.

Tuesday’s tornadoes in Texas could prove more costly than a hailstorm nearly a year ago in the Dallas area that caused more than $100 million in insurance claims. That April 15, 2011, storm was less damaging in terms of hail and winds.

Insurers have already lost as much as $2 billion during the 2012 tornado season, mostly from a record March 2 outbreak. That follows record-breaking losses of $25 billion during the 2011 tornado season.

Just remember if you suffer from tornado windstorm damage then Rick Kinney is Your Advocate in Tornado Wind Damage Insurance Claims. Please call at 215.364.4546 or visit us at www.advocatepublicadjustment.com

Public adjuster serving Pennsylvanians since 1992.

Your Advocate in Tornado Damage Insurance Claims

Advocate Public Adjustment, LLC  serving Pennsylvanians as your public adjuster. Insurance companies have professionals looking after their interest so should you! Public Adjuster Bucks County, Public Adjuster Philadelphia County, Public Adjuster Montgomery County, Public Adjuster Berks County, Public Adjuster Chester County, Public Adjuster Delaware County, Public Adjuster Lehigh County, Public Adjuster Lancaster County, Public Adjuster Carbon County, Public Adjuster Northampton County.

Rick Kinney

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