North Texas storms kill at least 11

Rescue teams continued their searches across North Texas Sunday, hours after storms and tornado activity killed at least 11 people in Dallas and Collin counties.

At least eight people in Garland and three in Collin County died in the fast-moving storms that swept through North Texas. Garland officials said 15 were injured.

In Garland, about 600 structures most of them single family homes were damaged by the storms, Garland city officials said Sunday morning. The storm damage was in a two-square-mile area.

Several of the fatalities in Garland occurred in a traffic accident near Interstate 30 and the President George Bush Turnpike, at the Garland-Rowlett border, officials said.

Garland police spokesman Mike Hatfield said vehicles likely fell as far as 17 feet from a bridge. Several others were injured.

Injuries were also reported at a Garland apartment complex. Hatfield said all residents had vacated their apartments with their pets and other belongings. The Red Cross set up shelters for residents.

The forecast calls for heavy rain through midday in North Texas; the severe weather threat has moved into East Texas.

Officials in Rowlett, east of Dallas, said early Sunday that a large tornado made a direct hit on the city, injuring 23 people. No deaths were immediately reported in that city.

The tornado touched down shortly before 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth.

No details were available late Saturday about the deaths in Copeville, a few miles northeast of Garland, except that they happened at a gas station, according to the Collin County Sheriff’s Department.

Collin County also reported a third death later Saturday night, but no details were available. WFAA reported that one of the deaths in Collin County was an infant.

More than 30 tornado warnings were issued across North Texas on Saturday.

An official with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said deputies were responding to damage caused by a tornado east of Dallas, including a trailer park ablaze.

Spokeswoman Melinda Urbina said several emergency teams had been dispatched to Sunnyvale, just east of Dallas, after reports of trailers on fire and possible injuries in a mobile home park.

Urbina said that the extent of the damage was still unknown but that it was likely extensive enough to render some uninhabitable. She also said that nearby roads had been closed because of debris and that the American Red Cross was responding to the scene.

The emergency management director for Ellis County, south of Dallas, said some homes had been destroyed or damaged. Stephanie Parker posted on Twitter: “We have destroyed and damaged homes. Please do not get out on the roads if you do not have to.”

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth confirmed that a tornado touched down south of Dallas. No other details of damage were immediately available, but officials said at one point that more than 50,000 Dallas County residents were without power at the peak of the storms.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins joined other area officials urging residents to stay home Saturday night.

“Damage is widespread throughout North Texas. Please stay home,” Jenkins said. “Let our first responders do their jobs without interference.”

After a warm week and one of the warmest Christmas Days on record, North Texas was set for a wet cooldown this weekend.

Flash-flood warnings were issued for Tarrant County.

Severe weather hit other parts of the state, too. Rain and high winds hit parts of North, Central and East Texas.

The National Weather Service said a “historic blizzard” could hit Amarillo, Lubbock and other parts of the Texas Panhandle this weekend.

Forecasters said the Panhandle could get 6 to 15 inches of snow, with more possible in pockets of the region. High winds could drive wind chill factor as low as 10 below zero and cause snow drifts several feet high.

The weather service was projecting 4-6 inches of rain on Saturday and today. A flash-flood watch took effect early Saturday and will be in effect through 6 a.m. Monday.

Temperatures were expected to drop overnight, from the 70s on Saturday to a high forecast in the 50s today and the 40s Monday.

Little wintry precipitation was expected to reach Dallas-Fort Worth, with a small chance of a rain-snow mix late Monday, forecasters said.

The next round of rain will likely push the region over the 60-inch total for 2015, which is already the wettest year on record with 59.49 inches of rain falling at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. But it is not expected to threaten the December record of 8.75 inches set in 1991.

The week’s forecast calls for cool and dry conditions from Tuesday through Friday, with highs in the mid-40s and lows in the high 20s and low 30s.

Staff writers Mark David Smith, Patrick M. Walker and John Gravois contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 11:22 AM with the headline "North Texas storms kill at least 11."