DALLAS – Judge Clay Jenkins is issuing a disaster declaration as a result of severe storms that tore through Dallas County Tuesday morning. Severe weather moved through North Texas in the early hours Tuesday, bringing baseball-sized hail and winds of up to 70 mph with it. Power was knocked out for over 600,000 North Texans, according to Oncor. Thousands of residents could potentially be without power for days, judge Jenkins said. The county judge explained the strong winds from the storms damaged power lines. "This unfortunately will be a multi-day power outage situation, similar to the one you saw in Harris County and Houston," Jenkins said, referring to the severe storms that impacted Houston recently.
Oncor will be prioritizing critical infrastructures, Jenkins said, including hospitals and police stations. He said Dallas County Health and Human Services will work with nursing homes without power to see what help is needed. Dallas County will be working closely with cities and Oncor for solutions. Jenkins said cooling stations will be opening in the coming days. "The main thing you can do is be patient," Jenkins said. "Be patient and report things to us." Jenkins said polls will remain open until 9 p.m. for the primary runoff election Tuesday due to power outages. Ninety of the county's 282 polling locations lost power Tuesday. Voters have been directed to other polling locations all day.
Julia Falcon is a digital content producer at CBS News Texas. Julia has previously written for news outlets across Dallas-Fort Worth like the Denton Record-Chronicle, D Magazine, 1080 KRLD and 105.3 The Fan. She covers a span of topics, focusing on sports and trending topics. Every week, Julia produces a show called "Eye on Trending," where she answers top trending questions.
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