Residents of Texas are expressing outrage after claiming they received no prior warning about a severe storm that tore through the region, wreaking havoc and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity.
The Fort Worth area faced winds reaching up to 67 mph on Friday night, accompanied by heavy rain that led to flash flooding.
Storm chasers observed what appeared to be a tornado touching down around 9 p.m. local time. The storm moved from McCart near I-20 towards Berry along the westbound I-35, causing significant damage.
The aftermath showed a path of destruction, prompting angry reactions from locals who criticized the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth-Dallas office for not issuing a warning about the potential tornado.
On social media, a woman named Abby voiced her frustration, stating, “Multiple tornadoes have touched down in the Fort Worth and Mid Cities area so far and there have been no warnings. What the hell, guys.”
Another individual echoed this sentiment, questioning, “What warnings? Tornado signature was near the downtown of a major metro area and it was just crickets.”
The regional office said they were aware of the multiple tornado reports coming in from the Fort Worth area around midnight but had yet to confirm if one occurred.
Texans are furious after they claim they were given ‘no warning’ ahead of what they said was a tornado which caused major damage
The winds left a trail of destruction in their wake as they blasted the Dallas Fort worth area
‘While reports are helpful, we need ground truth info instead of radar screenshots,’ it said on X. ‘If you have actual reports of damage, please send them. Damage pics w/ location are most helpful.’
The weather office posted an alert about a ‘severe thunderstorm’ for Dallas, Arlington and Garland which lasted until 10.30pm local time.
Professional storm chaser, Chelsea Burnett, posted photos of storm damage nearly 30 minutes later, claiming the damage happened around 9pm.
Other local storm chasers also claimed a tornado had touched down in Fort Worth. However, it has not been confirmed.
Roughly 26 percent of tornadoes go unwarned by the NWS, the American Meteorological Society found in a 2010 journal article.
The NWS service is a federal agency, meaning it is currently being impacted by the government shutdown.
The website will remain updated throughout the shutdown due to the ‘necessary’ information it provides that ‘protects life and property.’ It is unclear if the shutdown affected the alert system.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the NWS Fort Worth-Dallas for comment.
Despite that, residents didn’t forgive the weather agency.
Local storm chasers reported the tornado hit at around 9pm
The regional office said they were aware of the multiple tornado reports coming in from the Fort Worth area around midnight, but asked for evidence to make sure it happened, which angered residents
High winds left hundreds of thousands of people without power as of Saturday morning
‘Face it, YOU F**KED UP and people with NO COLLEGE DEGREES who know weather better than you told you & you ignored them,’ one wrote.
‘Must have been the wind,’ one joked.
‘They didn’t warn nobody, and there [was] one on the ground,’ another complained on Facebook.
More than 210,000 Texans are still without power as of Saturday morning. Tarrant County, where Fort Worth sits, has almost 18,500 people without electricity.
The NWS did issue a severe thunderstorm warning for the area around 9:30pm on Friday, saying storms moving at 45 mph were arriving.
‘Intense thunderstorm lines can produce brief tornadoes and widespread significant wind damage,’ a warning for University Park and Addison read, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Residents were furious about the lack of warning and some demanded an investigation
The Fort Worth-Dallas area also experienced wind gusts up to 50 mph and heavy rainfall.
Residents were warned to charge their phones early and to secure outdoor items before retiring to bed.
There are currently no active watches or warnings in the area although further storms are expected on Saturday.
