WORLD
Tornadoes rip through Dallas area, northeast Texas
Baku, April 4 (AZERTAC). Several tornadoes roared through the Dallas-Fort Worth region and across parts of northeastern Texas today, causing major damage and several injuries. At least two "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes ripped across the Dallas-Fort Worth area this afternoon, collapsing roofs, tearing down power lines and tossing trailers around like toys, the National Weather Service says. Several other twisters were reported as violent storms moved northeast. Five people were reportedly hurt when a twister tore through a subdivision in Forney, northeast of Dallas. The weather service says "considerable damage" has been reported near Cleburne, south of Fort Worth, and Lancaster, south of Dallas. Local television footage shows overturned and smashed semi-trailers on the ground in the southern portion of Dallas County. Dallas Police spokeswoman Sherri Jeffrey says twisters also have caused damage in the city limits. A tornado watch — meaning that conditions are ripe for tornadoes to continue to form — was in place for 33 counties in north-central and northeastern Texas until 8 p.m. CT, the National Weather Service reported. the U.S. Storm Prediction Center had received 12 reports of tornadoes in Texas, but some sightings are duplicate eyewitness reports of the same tornado, USA TODAY`s Doyle Rice reports. Meteorologists will revise the number after surveying the areas Wednesday and throughout the week. Smith says the FAA requires airlines to inspect aircraft that might have been exposed to hail and make repairs if necessary. The airline had to inspect 68 American planes and 33 American Eagle planes. A total of 370 departures had to be canceled after storms hit around 1:30 p.m. Typically, there are about 750 departures out of DFW a day, he says.