Burleson, TX-- Tornadoes tore through the Dallas area on Tuesday, tearing roofs off homes, tossing trucks into the air and leaving flattened tractor trailers strewn along highways and parking lots.
The National Weather Service confirmed at least two separate "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes. Several other developing twisters were reported as a band of violent storms crept through the metropolitan area, destroying mobile homes and forcing hundreds of flight cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Airlines cancelled more than 400 flights at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Tuesday as tornadoes rolled through the area, leaving thousands of travelers stranded at the airport.
American Airlines, which operates a hub at DFT, canceled nearly all departures for the rest of the evening. At least 40 incoming flights were diverted during the storm.
American had canceled more than 230 flights by Tuesday afternoon and others had been diverted to different airports. American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely says the airline also is pulling dozens of planes out of service to inspect them for hail damage.
Immediately after reports of tornadoes, 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.
Weather service advisories issued Tuesday said storm spotters and radar shows separate "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes both south of Dallas and Fort Worth.
The weather service says "considerable damage" has been reported near Cleburne, south of Fort Worth, and Lancaster, south of Dallas.
Executive director of Johnson County Emergency Services, Mike Johnson, reported that he could see a funnel cloud close to the Joshua, Cleburne border, according to CBS affiliate KTVT Dallas.
"If anybody's driving they should probably not head into that storm," he said, "because I was coming back from one location and it [rain] was so heavy that cars were stopping on the side of the road because they couldn't even see from just shear, heavy rain."