Tornado, deadly storms leave thousands without power in North Texas

Thousands of North Texans were still waiting for power Sunday as crews worked through a swath of storm damage that stretched across Parker and Wise counties northwest of Fort Worth. The hardest-hit areas were Springtown and Runaway Bay, where neighborhoods, roads and utility lines took the force of a severe night of wind, hail and at least one confirmed tornado.

Officials said at least two people died in the storms, one in Parker County near Springtown and another in Wise County. In Wise County, the National Weather Service confirmed an EF-2 tornado with peak winds of 135 mph touched down near Runaway Bay on Saturday night. At least six people were treated for injuries there, and County Judge J.D. Clark said at least 20 families in the Runaway Bay area were displaced after major structural damage spread across multiple neighborhoods. Clark said he planned to issue a disaster declaration.

Parker County emergency management coordinator Jason Lane said the bulk of the damage occurred in Springtown, where crews were still assessing neighborhoods Sunday morning. Wind gusts reached as high as 80 mph across North Texas, with chief meteorologist Pete Delkus saying Springtown saw winds as high as 90 mph. Golf ball-sized hail added to the damage, leaving homes, trees and outbuildings battered. A Springtown resident described a double carport, chicken coop, shed roof, mature trees and a porch destroyed as the house shook during the storm.

The power outage count showed how widespread the disruption remained. Early Sunday morning, Oncor reported almost 40,000 customers in North Texas without electricity, nearly 25,000 of them in Tarrant County alone. By Sunday afternoon, the utility said just over 9,100 outages remained across Dallas, Tarrant, Wise and Parker counties, with crews assessing damage by air and on the ground before restoring service. Springtown officials said most roadways inside city limits had been cleared of major debris, but Springtown ISD said schools would be closed Monday because much of town was still without power and serious damage remained.

Local law enforcement, fire departments, utility partners, the American Red Cross, the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Texas Task Force 2 were involved in the response. Storm surveys were still underway Sunday, including possible additional damage tracks in Jack County, as North Texas began the slower work of recovery after a night that left entire pockets of the region dark.