The destructive tornadoes that raked across the Dallas-Fort Worth area Tuesday crumpled a wing of a nursing home, peeled the roofs from dozens of homes and tossed big-rig trailers into the air like footballs.
More than a dozen injuries were reported.
A destructive reminder of a young tornado season left thousands without power and hundreds of homes pummeled or worse, after as a dozen twisters touched down in a wrecking-ball swath of violent weather that stretched across Dallas and Fort Worth.
Despite the intensity of the slow-moving storms, no fatalities or serious injuries had been reported, though there were several less serious injuries.
The exact number of tornadoes Tuesday wasn't expected to be known until surveyors fanned across North Texas, looking for clues among the debris that blanketed yards and rooftops peeled off slats.
The Red Cross put a preliminary estimate of damaged homes at 650. In the southern Dallas suburb of Lancaster, where damage was especially widespread, around 150 people remained in a shelter Tuesday night.
"I guess 'shock' is probably a good word," Lancaster Mayor Marcus Knight said.
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport canceled hundreds of flights and diverted others heading its way. In one industrial section of Dallas, rows of empty tractor-trailers crumpled like soda cans littered a parking lot.
"The officers were watching the tornadoes form and drop," Kennedale police Chief Tommy Williams said. "It was pretty active for a while."
About 12,600 homes in Arlington alone remained without power late Tuesday, said Tiara Ellis Richard, a police spokeswoman for the city.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.