Weather

Storm Damage In Rendon-Crowley Area

NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 News/ AP) ― Severe storms damaged 20 houses and injured two people in the Rendon-Crowley area of southern Tarrant County Wednesday night.

CBS 11 News crews saw heavy roof damage to several houses in the area.  Tarrant County Fire Marshal Randy Renois told us two houses were "destroyed."

Earlier in the evening the storm prompted numerous tornado warnings.

To the southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, trained storm spotters sighted a tornado 14 miles west of Breckenridge. Another tornado was reported in Erath County near Morgan Mill, and the same one appears to have touched down nearby in Palo Pinto County, said Nick Hampshire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

Erath County Sheriff's deputies are reporting significant damage on Highway 1188 near Morgan Mill. Several power lines and trees were knocked down and outbuildings were destroyed along the Erath-Palo Pinto line, and some roofs near Lipan in Hood County were reportedly damaged as well.

Hood County emergency management official Roger Deeds said some homes and a fire station were damaged as the storm moved through the region southwest of Fort Worth.

The thunderstorm also brought winds up to 70 mph and quarter-size to baseball-size hail to Stephens, Eastland, Erath, Palo Pinto, Hood and Parker counties, according to NWS reports. Flash flooding also was reported in Palo Pinto County.

No injuries were immediately reported in that area.

In Stephenville, several cars were stuck in high water, but there were no injuries, said police patrolman Marty Golightly. He said there were reports of water as high as 3 feet.

Further west, one possible twister touched down in a Snyder park in Scurry County about 3 p.m., said officials with the National Weather Service. But local emergency officials later said that damage to roofs there was probably caused by straight-line winds because it was in one direction, said David Hennig, a NWS meteorologist in Midland.

A short time later as many as two twisters reportedly touched down away from populated areas near Patricia in Dawson County, southwest of Lubbock.

"We feel fairly confident on the Patricia one because there was a ... spotter out of Lubbock that was on that storm," Hennig said.

Jones County Judge Dale Spurgin said a storm that moved through the northern portion of the county damaged roofs in Anson and knocked down power lines. One highway was closed by the downed poles. Spurgin said there was also some minor flooding on some farm-to-market roads.

Hail -- some golf-ball size -- was reported nearby, the weather service said.

Survey teams from NWS offices were to go out Thursday to assess damages and determine what sort of winds caused the destruction in several cities.

By late Friday morning, stormy weather will again come into focus as a cold front moves into North Texas. As that front moves east it will carry the rain with it.

But the break in the storms won't last long. A low pressure center will form near Amarillo Saturday night and drags another cold front through North Texas on Sunday. This front will also be a focal point for thunderstorms.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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