[Steppes] A DallasNews.com article from Morgan Cain

[morgancain@earthlink.net]

Morgan Cain [morgancain at earthlink.net] has sent you a link to an article from DallasNews.com.

  Sounds like things at Canton, bad though they were, could have been a lot worse.

Made it home, car unpacked, tent drying in back yard, lost-n-found in the dryer, garb in the wash.  Heading for the shower,

                    ---= Morgan


Page at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/052603dnmetdamages.41dc7.html
======================================================================

 Storm blamed for damage, death

 05/26/2003

 By JENNIFER PACKER and IAN McCANN / The Dallas Morning News



 An overnight storm into early Sunday morning is being blamed for at least
 one fatal motor vehicle accident and a flood that displaced more than 20
 families.

 Power company officials say it could take until Monday morning to
 restore electricity to all customers affected by severe thunderstorm
 that swept through North Texas Saturday night and early Sunday.


 More than 70,000 customers in Dallas-Forth Worth area lost power in the
 storms.


 The storm which dumped up to 3 inches of rain in some areas and
 registered winds of up to 60 mph in McKinney ran through the North Texas
 overnight. Hail measuring nearly three inches in diameter was recorded
 in Ponder in Denton County and up to one inch in McKinney.


 As of noon Sunday, just under 30,000 still remained without power as
 crews fanned out across the Dallas-Fort Worth area to restore service,
 TXU spokeswoman Normalinda Gonzalez said.


 "We hope to get everyone up by [Monday] morning," Ms. Gonzalez said.


 Dallas, Plano, Farmers Branch, Mesquite and other areas on the east side
 of the region were hardest hit by the outages, she said.


 A Cedar Hill man driving north on U.S. 67 in Dallas died after he hit a
 tow truck parked on the shoulder at the Interstate 35E merge. The
 accident occurred at 6:35 a.m. Sunday. Bernard Parson, 37, died at the
 scene. Police said attributed the accident to a combination of speed and
 wet roads.


 The tow truck driver was taken to Methodist Medical Center of Dallas
 with unknown injuries, police said.


 Residents of the Hillside Apartments in the 2900 block of Prichard Lane
 in Pleasant Grove were flooded out of their apartments after heavy winds
 tore the roof off of the building about 1 a.m. Sunday. There were no
 injuries.


 The American Red Cross and apartment managers are working with the
 residents to assess the damage and find new housing. An emergency
 shelter was set up at the recreation center at Pleasant Oaks Park.


 The storms began in Wichita Falls at about 8 p.m. and moved southeast to
 cities including Denton, Sherman, Paris and Greenville before hitting
 the Dallas-Fort Worth area at about 1:30 a.m., National Weather Service
 meteorologist Joe Harris said. The storms wound down at about 7 a.m.,
 dumping one to four inches of rain in some cities, he said.


 Mr. Harris said there was a 60 percent chance that more storms could hit
 the area Sunday afternoon. The storm is expected to move south to Waco
 and the Hill Country by Sunday evening, Mr. Harris said.


 "That's our area of concern today," he said.


 Dallas Love Field reported 1.5 inches of rain, and Denton registered 3
 inches of rain by Sunday morning. Less than an inch of rain fell in
 McKinney, and Arlington got a little more than an inch of rain.


 In Mesquite, road crews closed the service road on eastbound U.S.
 Highway 80 at Forney Road because of damage to the pavement caused by
 weather overnight. Officials expect it to remain closed until after
 Monday.


 Richardson had scattered power outages, and part of the roof of an
 office building at 1300 E. Campbell Road collapsed, but no one was
 injured, officials said.


 Rockwall and Plano also sustained scattered power outages but no major
 damage.


 In the Casa Linda neighborhood of East Dallas, an area hard hit by the
 storms, the power was out at Albertson's grocery store from about 1 a.m.
 until noon, according to the store manager, who declined to give any
 further details. The outages were caused by power lines downed by tree
 limbs, wind and lightning, Ms. Gonzalez said. More than 450 workers were
 dispatched s through Sunday to restore power.




0