City Of Dallas To Resume Assessing Tornado Damage Tuesday Morning
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — The City of Dallas will resume assessing damage left from an EF-3 tornado Tuesday morning.
Director of the City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management Rocky Vaz said there is a team of 20 people touring neighborhoods.
"They're going to work closely with Dallas Fire-Rescue Urban Search and Rescue, so we can try and get as many damage assessments done as possible," Vaz said.
Sunday night's twister ravaged neighborhoods bordered by Royal Lane on the north and Northwest Highway on the south, and between Central Expressway on the east to Harry Hines Boulevard on the west.
Video from a CBS 11 drone flying over Marsh Lane and Walnut Hill Lane showed homes obliterated and a shopping center gutted.
Amiti Perry surveyed the fallen trees at the house she rents and along Marsh Lane.
"Of all the damage, all the trees and everything else, the house itself didn't sustain direct damage in terms of we don't have any windows out. We don't have any roof," Perry said.
Power crews were in the process of restoring power in the area.
The Walnut Hill United Methodist Church sustained damage to its roof and had multiple trees down while a strip mall across the street also suffered damage.
Emergency managers said they were notified at 9:01 p.m. that there was a tornado warning and they wasted no time.
Vaz said they activated the sirens at 9:02 p.m.
"There was no lag there. It took us two minutes to get the warning sirens out," he said.
Aside from assessing the damage, public works crews are already clearing storm debris from intersections.
Joey Zapata, an Assistant City Manager said the city will also quickly hire contractors to remove debris.
"We have our crews also out in the field closely coordinating with our first responders to make sure we see the debris as it's out there now," Zapata said.
Crews were also in the process of repairing 160 traffic signals that were either out or flashing.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson praised first responders and city staff for doing "an amazing job" keeping people safe.
No one died Sunday night as a result of the storm and only three people suffered minor injuries.
"We have a strong city, a resilient city, and we're going to get through this," Johnson said. "And I know our folks are going to step up to the plate and make sure we take care of one another."
With many trees down and power poles knocked down, the city of Dallas is urging residents in affected areas to stay inside their homes between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. through Thursday. Non-residents are urged to stay away from the areas hit by the storm.
The Red Cross opened a shelter Sunday night at Bachman Recreation Center where 23 spent the night immediately following the storms.
Johnson said while the city doesn't need any supplies, people can donate money to the City of Dallas Emergency Assistance Fund.