Eight Dead as Tornadoes Strike the Dallas Area

At least eight people were killed in the Dallas area Saturday night when as many as 11 tornadoes swept North Texas, officials said.

The storm tossed cars off freeways and destroyed homes, at least one apartment building and a recreation vehicle park across the suburbs northeast of the city, according to officials with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and the Garland Police Department. About 50,000 people were without power, officials said.

“There’s been quite an impact in damage and potentially injuries and death,” said Rich Thompson, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s storm prediction center in Norman, Okla.

Five of the deaths were reported at the intersection of Interstate 30 and the President George Bush Turnpike, where a tornado threw cars off an overpass into traffic below, said Officer Joe Harn, the public information officer for the Garland Police Department. Photos posted on Twitter showed a tangle of overturned cars on I-30.

“It’s still a very active scene, and I have not been out there,” Officer Harn said. “We’ve got additional injuries. I don’t have a number and I don’t have the seriousness of those injuries. We’ve got more rain coming in, so we’re trying to get as much done as we can before those rains come in.”

Among the other deaths reported, two were in Copeville and one was in Blue Ridge, north of Dallas, a spokeswoman for the Collin County Sheriff’s Department said.