Texas, Plains Hammered by Severe Storms

Tornadoes and winds gusting up to 70 m.p.h. damaged more than 200 houses and injured at least 18 persons in Texas on Monday, while baseball-sized hail shattered windows and smashed cars in a Kansas town as thunderstorms rumbled through the Plains.

A violent storm cut a 5-mile swath through Dallas, said Stan Gleghorn, a fire department battalion chief. The storm, which spawned multiple funnel clouds, downed power lines, knocked over trees and blew shingles off roofs in the southeastern part of the city.

“These were very small, erratic tornadoes skipping around,” said Hank Byrd, operations officer with Dallas’ emergency preparedness office. “They were very difficult to track.”

Damage was expected to top $1.5 million, Byrd said.

Police had to close off part of the business district in Hutchinson, Kan., because of falling glass after a thunderstorm dropped hailstones as big as baseballs, said officer Steve French. Authorities said damage could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We had one business alone that lost over 200 windows,” French said. “Anything that was sitting out was pulverized. We had extensive damage all over the city.”