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From May 8: Severe Storms With 70 MPH Winds Topple Trees, Flood Streets, Dump Up To 4 Inches Of Rain

Severe storms raced across North Texas Thursday afternoon, uprooting trees, flooding streets and cutting off power for tens of thousands.

Winds hit 70 mph at some points. For a few minutes, a tornado warning was in effect for Dallas County.

No significant injuries have been reported so far.

By dinnertime, the storms were entering East Texas.

In Dallas, organizers of the Katy Trail 5K canceled the event, scheduled for Thursday evening, due to the weather.

Exceptionally strong winds rocked downtown Dallas Thursday afternoon. In Dallas County, areas north of downtown were hit pretty hard -- trees were down in the Park Cities. In East Dallas, trees toppled, crashing onto cars. Office windows were shattered in North Dallas and roofs were partially ripped off homes in West Dallas.

By 8 p.m. Thursday, about 20,000 customers were without power in North Texas, Oncor reported. That's down from 40,000 earlier in the afternoon. By 7:30 a.m. Friday, only 4,000 were still without power.

Significant damage was also reported in Johnson County, which is south of Fort Worth. Johnson County Emergency Management reported that a few mobile homes were significantly damaged west of Joshua. Injuries were reported, but nothing life-threatening.

Earlier in the day Thursday, five teens decided to skip school and were hanging out near a creek in south Dallas. But with the heavy rainfall, they got caught up in high water and had to be rescued. Dallas Fire-Rescue and Dallas police arrived and plucked the kids out of the creek. They were sent to the hospital and the kids are doing fine.

Parts of the KERA listening area received about 4 inches of rain as of 6 p.m. Thursday. Cities east of Dallas received the most rain. Parts of Dallas County received 2 or 3 inches, while parts of Tarrant County saw under an inch.

Update, 6:06 p.m. Thursday: About 25,000 North Texans remain without power, Oncor reports. That's down from about 40,000 earlier this afternoon.

Update, 6:02 p.m. Thursday: We'll have a roundup of today's severe weather at 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. Or listen online.

Update, 4:42 p.m. Thursday: Dallas police report various spots with high water -- the 2900 block of Lamar; Brookshire and Hillcrest; eastbound LBJ Freeway to southbound Dallas North Tollway; 7700 Walnut Hill Lane; 12th and Llewellyn; 5100 Keeneland Parkway.

As of 4:40 p.m., about 35,000 customers are without power across North Texas, Oncor reports.

Update, 4:19 p.m. Thursday: A flash flood warning has been issued until 6:15 p.m. for Dallas County. A separate flash flood warning has been issued until 7:15 p.m. for eastern Collin County, Hunt County, Rockwall County, Delta County and Hopkins County.

Update, 4:18 p.m. Thursday: Tonight's Katy Trail 5k has been cancelled, organizers reported on Twitter.

Update, 4:07 p.m. Thursday: 70 mph winds are likely affecting the Lake Ray Hubbard Bridge east of Dallas -- the storm is heading to Rockwall.

Update, 3:53 p.m. Thursday: The National Weather Service expects to cancel the tornado warning for Dallas County, but straight-line winds are likely -- perhaps 70 mph -- in areas east of Dallas, including Rowlett and Heath.

Johnson County's Emergency Management department is reporting damage and injuries west of Joshua. The injuries don't appear to be life-threatening.

Update, 3:52 p.m. Thursday: All DART service north of the Mockingbird Station has been suspended due to the severe weather, DART is reporting on Twitter.

Update, 3:50 p.m. Thursday: A spotter with the Weather Service reports trees and power are out in parts of Highland Park. Oncor's website shows that about 40,000 customers are without power in North Texas.

Update, 3:47 p.m. Thursday: The National Weather Service reports: "Potentially tornadic circulation is rain-wrapped in Dallas, making any tornado difficult if not impossible to see. Circulation is broadening in northeast Dallas as it moves toward Garland. Damaging straight-line winds may impact Garland, Balch Springs, and Mesquite."

Update, 3:30 p.m. Thursday: The National Weather Service has reported a tornado warning in Dallas County. The National Weather Service is reporting a possible tornado near the Park Cities -- the storm is moving northeast. Seek shelter immediately, weather officials say.

Update, 3:25 p.m. Thursday: The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Dallas County and northern Ellis County until 4:15 p.m. Thursday. Around 3:10 p.m., a line of severe thunderstorms formed that are capable of producing quarter-size hail and damaging winds in excess of 65 mph.

Winds in excess of 60 mph were reported in downtown Dallas.

The Johnson County Emergency Management indicated that the storms destroyed mobile homes west of Joshua.

Original post: Following heavy rain and flooding across North Texas Thursday morning, five teens were swept up in high water in south Dallas.

Dallas police say they were stuck in a creek near Interstate 35 and Ledbetter Drive in the Red Bird area, which is in southwest Dallas. 

All of the kids have been accounted for, and Dallas Fire-Rescue crews were working to retrieve the last teen out of the water. That child was pulled out by 11:30 a.m., Dallas police said on Twitter.

Some of the kids have been transported to Children’s Medical Center, Dallas police said.

The dramatic rescue comes as bands of much-needed rain have fallen on North Texas Thursday. More rain is expected through the afternoon. The National Weather Service reports that as of 10:30 a.m., 1.19 inches fell in Addison, while 1.54 inches fell in Heath and 1.41 inches fell in southwest Royse City.

A flash flood warning was issued at 11:30 a.m. for northeastern Dallas County, southeastern Collin County, Rockwall County and Hunt County. That's in effect until 1:15 p.m.

There have been reports of flooding and standing water throughout the Dallas area.

Eric Aasen is KERA’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to KERA radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.