Storms, Tornadoes Hit Texas, Arkansas

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes downed power lines and damaged homes and buildings Saturday in Texas and Arkansas, where authorities said several people were injured.

To the north, ice-covered roads resulted in dozens of wrecks. A truck that skidded off a highway in Rock County, Wis., overturned, killing the driver.

Tornadoes touched down in several places in central Arkansas late in the afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

Ira Akins, 75, a College Station, Ark., resident, said his home was heavily damaged. He had lost another home to a tornado in 1997.

“First thing I know, the storm was here and blew the roof off,” Akins said. “We laid down on the floor.”

No one in the home was hurt.

State police spokeswoman Kim Fontaine said the agency had reports of only minor injuries.

David Lewis of Entergy Arkansas, the state’s largest electrical utility, said power was knocked out to about 15,000 customers. More than half were in the south Little Rock area.

In Denton County, Texas, heavy rain, hail and winds blew off roofs and downed power lines. In West Texas, winds gusting to 77 mph generated dust storms that reduced visibility to half a mile in Lubbock.

Interstate 35 in Lewisville, north of Dallas, was closed Saturday morning while crews cleared downed power lines.