US tornadoes toss trucks over Texas
Washington - Powerful tornadoes Tuesday hit the biggest urban area in the US state of Texas with winds so strong they tossed tractor-trailer trucks in the air.
Extensive damage was reported in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as media photos and video showed homes with roofs ripped off and truck trailers smashed upside-down on roads. US broadcaster CNN reported dozens of planes damaged at Dallas-Fort Worth airport, which grounded all flights for part of Tuesday afternoon.
As many as 47,000 homes and businesses were left without power Tuesday evening, CNN reported. But there were no reports of deaths and no "significant injuries" from Tuesday's storm, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told the broadcaster.
"The damage is significant, but the big headline is we dodged a big bullet," Rawlings said. "This storm had the potential to be much worse."
While tornadoes sweep the central plains of the US with some frequency, they rarely strike urban areas like Dallas-Fort Worth, with a population of more than 6 million.
Last month a series of more than 100 tornadoes in the central and southern United States killed at least 40 people.//DPA
