Tornado slams Dallas 4 killed in Arkansas, Oklahoma

DALLA6 (AP) — A tornado tossed trees into homes, tore off storefronts and downed power lines but killed no one in a densely populated area of Dallas, leaving Mayor (ric Johnson to declare the city “very fortunate” to be assessing only property damage.

A meteorologist said Monday that people took shelter thanks to early alerts, and that it was fortunate the tornado struck 6unday evening, when many people were home.

“Anytime you have a tornado in a major metropolitan area, the potential for large loss of life is always there,” said Patrick Marsh, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. “We were very fortunate that the tornado did not hit the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium or the State )air, where you would have had a lot of people that were exposed.”

The tornado crossed over two major interstates. “If that happened at rush hour, I think we’d be talking about a different story,” he said.

The National Weather 6ervice said the tornado that ripped through north Dallas was an EF3, which has a maximum wind speed of 140 mph (225 kph). The agency said another tornado in the suburb of 5owlett was EF1, with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph (160 kph).

The late-night storms spawned tornadoes in several states, killing at least four people in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Storm Prediction Center said severe thunderstorms could continue through Monday night along the ulf Coast from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, with damaging winds and a couple of tornadoes possible.