Tornado ravages north Dallas, leaving thousands without power

[October 21, 2019]    (Reuters) - A tornado plowed through parts of northern Dallas late on Sunday, knocking out power to more than 175,000 homes and businesses and delaying flights at regional airports, officials said.

The storm left a miles-long swath of destruction through Dallas, hitting near the Love Field airport in the city's north, the National Weather Service's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center in College Park Maryland said early on Monday.

A tornado is seen in North Dallas, Texas, U.S., October 20, 2019 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video on October 21, 2019. PHILIP ELLIS/via REUTERS

All tornado warnings have been lifted and there are no flash flood warnings, it added.

Emergency responders and the Dallas Morning News newspaper said no injuries or deaths had immediately been reported, but police and firefighters were going door-to-door in some neighborhoods to check on residents.

"It was exactly one tornado that hit at 9:02 p.m.," said David Roth, adding that it was a powerful one but crews need to survey the damage by daylight to assess its strength.

"We also saw golfball- and baseball-sized hail in some areas and a narrow swath of north Dallas that got between 1 to 3 inches of rain," Roth said, or the equivalent of 2.5 cm to 7.6 cm.

On Twitter, DFW Airport said its ramps were closed as a safety measure and departures were delayed at least until 12:30 a.m. CDT.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Alex Richardson)

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