100 Hurt in North Texas Hailstorms

Storms with hail as big as softballs and winds above 70 m.p.h. swept through northern Texas on Friday night, injuring close to 100 people, damaging buildings and cars, and cutting power at an airport.

As many as 40 flights were diverted en route to Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, where power to an American Airlines terminal went out briefly during the height of the storm.

“There was a power pause, but no real interruption,” said Marion Deesisto, a spokeswoman for American.

Large hail shattered the windows of cars and buildings, sending glass flying and injuring people at a festival along the Trinity River in Fort Worth.

Ninety people, including some from the festival, were treated at Harris Methodist Hospital for minor injuries, spokeswoman Marie Chilton said.

Others were treated at the festival site or at hospitals for cuts and bruises, said Lt. Kent Worley, a spokesman for the Ft. Worth Fire Department. The number of injured was not immediately known.

“I got hit so hard I thought I was going to pass out and I’m not a fainting-type person,” said Kay Carlson, who was at the festival when the hail grew from pea-size to softball-size. “We saw car windows being smashed everywhere.”

Lightning struck a 16-year-old boy in Irving, just west of Dallas. He was in critical condition Friday night, a hospital spokesman said.

A Ft. Worth resident hit by a hailstone received 12 stitches on the head.