At least 2 tornadoes hit Dallas-Fort Worth area

(Updated at 3:45 p.m. CT)

By Jason Sickles, Yahoo! Dallas Editor

At least two large twisters rumbled across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area Tuesday afternoon, crushing homes, flipping trucks and sending thousands of North Texans scrambling to take cover.

More tornadoes were possible, but not immediately confirmed by the National Weather Service. Storms also produced heavy rain, lightning and hail as the band of extreme weather swept across the area.

By 3:45 p.m. CT, most of the warnings were focused north and east of Dallas. Tornadoes were spotted on the ground in at least seven counties, with the most recent report at 3:40 p.m. CT in Kaufman and Hopkins counties east of Dallas.

"Oh no! Oh no!" a storm spotter in Forney (25 miles east of Dallas) told CBS 11 during a live broadcast. "Oh my goodness. I can see the homes just being torn apart."

Some minor injuries were reported, but an exact number is not yet known.

At one point, the National Weather Service declared counties in Dallas-Fort Worth to be under a "tornado emergency."

Sirens blared across downtown Dallas and Fort Worth, schools huddled children in hallways and passengers at DFW International Airport were rushed to safe areas during the height of the storm.

"This is as serious of a tornado we've seen in years," said CBS 11 meteorologist Larry Mowry.

Aftermath photos showed images of numerous tractor-trailer trucks toppled like toy cars.

Television news helicopters broadcast images of a couple of the twisters. Spotters on the ground estimated one of the tornadoes to be 1/2-mile wide. The first tornado, first spotted about 20 miles south of Fort Worth, was believed to be on the ground for 30 minutes.

That twister was captured on video near Arlington. KXAS (NBC 5) published the raw video.

Storm spotters relayed widespread major damage of homes and other buildings in several communities south of Fort Worth.

"Oh man!" a spotter surveying damage told CBS 11. "People are running frantically trying to see if people are ok."

Officials said roofs were blown off homes in south Arlington and Kennedale, about 20 southwest of DFW Airport. Minor injuries were reported. Some homeowners were said to be scouring damaged neighborhoods for missing pets.

The American Red Cross was dispatched to the hardest hit areas and were seeking volunteers.

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