Nation : Storm With 90 M.P.H. Winds Adds to Miseries of Rain-Soaked South
Floodwaters kept hundreds from their homes today in three Southern states, and a storm packing 90 m.p.h. winds raced across Texas, uprooting trees and chasing Shakespearean actors from an outdoor stage in Dallas moments before it collapsed.
The storm system developed in Oklahoma, bolted across Texas and moved into Louisiana and Mississippi early today, blowing down power lines, spinning off tornadoes and causing lightning-sparked fires. Power outages affected 100,000 customers in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and at least 30,000 were still without power this morning.
A performance at the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas came to an abrupt end as officials evacuated 1,000 patrons minutes before the stage collapsed under 90-m.p.h. winds. No one was injured.
Texas, Louisiana and their neighbors have endured more than a week of heavy rain sparked by Tropical Storm Allison. Flooding kept at least 500 people from their homes in southeast Texas and 200 in Mississippi. About 700 homes in Louisiana remained flooded.
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