Storms Black Out a Half-Million in Texas

The Associated Press, June 2, 2004

DALLAS -- Thunderstorms pounded parts of Texas with hail as big as tennis balls and wind blasting to more than 80 mph, halting flights at two airports and blacking out more than a half-million customers.

Some of the areas of northern and central Texas got 2 1/4 inches of rain late Tuesday, flooding streets in Arlington more than a foot deep.

By Wednesday morning, the storms had blown east into Louisiana and Mississippi, but more storms were possible in Texas late Wednesday.

More than a half-million customers lost power at the height of the storms, said TXU Electric Delivery spokesman Scott Withers.

"This is the worst outage we've had in a decade," Withers said Wednesday, He said power was restored to about 170,000 customers before daybreak, but it could be days before all service is back to normal.

All flights were grounded late Tuesday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field while the storms crossed the area, airport officials said.

Aftereffects of the delays at DFW could continue through Wednesday, said airport spokesman Ken Capps.

Elsewhere, a new swarm of storms packing wind of up to 70 mph hit West Virginia on Tuesday, killing a truck driver, knocking down trees and power lines and blacking out 103,000 utility customers.

Power outages in western West Virginia could last into the weekend, said AEP spokesman Phil Moye.

"We've had storms for the past week and a half or so and each one has cause a bit of damage," Moye said. "This one is as bad as the past two or three combined."

West Virginia plans to seek a federal disaster declaration for six southern counties where weekend floods ravaged hundreds of homes and businesses and caused about $3 million in damage to roads, state officials said Tuesday. One man died in the flooding.

Thunderstorms in the Northeast produced a funnel cloud in New Jersey, where departing flights at Newark Liberty International Airport were delayed by up to two hours Tuesday because of rain, hail and wind.

A tornado formed in northern New York, knocking down trees near Westville. "The top of it looked lime green," said Westville Fire Chief Donald Gravell Sr.