Dallas area storms kill eight people

On the other side of Texas, a snowstorm accompanied by plunging temperatures was expected to leave up to 16ins of snow in West Texas and much of New Mexico.

The worst-hit area was in Garland, northeast of Dallas, where eight people were killed, cars blown off highways and homes flattened, officials said on Sunday.

An official with the Dallas County Sheriff’s office says deputies are responding to damages caused by a tornado east of Dallas, including a trailer park ablaze.

The full extent of damage along a almost 40-mile stretch near Dallas isn’t yet known, though there were reports of storms and tornadoes blowing the roofs off homes, mangling vehicles, damaging churches, downing power lines and toppling trees.

Deaths from the winter storm have not been confined to the Dallas area. “It was heartbreaking, especially being the day after Christmas”.

About 600 structures – mostly single-family homes – were damaged, added Lt Barineau, who described the scene as “total devastation”. The start time at American Airlines Center was pushed back about 30 minutes to 8 p.m.as severe weather moved through downtown Dallas. Late Saturday, one death was reported in Alabama.

Local TV weather reporters said that 11 twisters touched down in the region, a figure the NWS was unable to immediatly confirm.

The late Saturday deaths in Texas came as millions of residents in the southern United States struggle to recover from fierce storms and heavy flooding, with more rain in the forecast. He said the primary job was to make sure people got found and had a safe place to stay on Saturday night.

The cause of their deaths was not disclosed, but they brought the total dead from tornadoes in MS to 10, in addition to 56 people injured, officials said.

Eleven people were killed by tornadoes that hit the Dallas, Texas, area on Saturday evening, and several more were wounded.

The National Weather Service says there were 11 preliminary tornado reports across North Texas, although officials will survey the damage over the next several days to determine an official count.

A tornado hit an interstate around 6:45 p.m. Saturday, tossing vehicles from the roadway.

The governor’s office said in a statement that almost 200 roads in the state are closed due to flooding.

Widespread rain has prompted flash flood watches in eastern Texas, eastern Oklahoma, most of Arkansas, central and southern Missouri and IL and central Indiana.

The tornados snapped power cables and knocked over pylons, leaving some 30,000 Garland residents in the dark, the city said.