Tornado Causes Damage, Injuries In Dallas Suburb

ARLINGTON, Texas — A tornado swept through parts of the Dallas-area city of Arlington, damaging several apartment complexes and other buildings, displacing 75 families and causing minor injuries to three people, officials said Wednesday.

The Arlington Fire Department said the storm, which passed through the city at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, caused the collapse of three apartment complexes, two commercial buildings, a church and a home. Gas leaks and downed power lines at various locations were also reported.

About 75 families were displaced by the damage at the apartment complexes and the American Red Cross of North Texas said it was providing them with emergency shelter.

Maria Macias, who lives in one of the damaged complexes, told t he Fort Worth Star-Telegram that she was making banana pies when the loud thunder started.

“Then the roof came off,” she said, and rain poured into her family’s apartment.

“We also don’t have any cars,” Macias said, pointing to two vehicles in the complex parking lot that were damaged. “God took care of us.”

Three people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, the fire department said.

A National Weather Service survey team determined the damage was caused by an EF-2 tornado with wind peaks of around 115 mph (185 kph).

The survey team was still determining the length and width of the tornado’s path.

Large hail and strong winds were also reported in Oklahoma, but there were no widespread reports of damage.

In the South, tornadoes and severe storms are not uncommon in the late fall and early winter.

“We could get a tornado any month of the year here,” meteorologist Jason Dunn told the newspaper.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says more severe thunderstorms are possible throughout the week in parts of the South and Midwest.

About the photo: An air conditioner unit of a Waterdance Apartments building and the peeled off roof landed on a car during a tornado-warned storm that rolled through Tuesday night. Damage also occurred at The Mirage Apartments along Pioneer Parkway in Arlington, Texas Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP)