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Flying Trailer
Video still from Reuters TV
A trailer flies through the air as a tornado sweeps through the area of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday in a still image taken from a video.
The National Weather Service estimates that between 6 and 13 twisters may have touched down in northern Texas yesterday, CNN reported.
CNN meteorologist Sean Morris estimated that the tornadoes were F1 or F2 on the Fujita scale, which ranks tornadoes based on wind speed and damage potential.
"This is fairly weak in terms of tornadoes, but we saw the awesome power of the twisters as they lifted the trailers several hundred feet in the air," he said on CNN's website.
An empty trailer weighs 14,000 pounds (63,500 kilograms), while a full one weighs about 46,000 pounds (208,650 kilograms), according to the news agency.
Authorities have not yet reported any deaths from the Texas tornadoes, which destroyed at least 150 homes.
(Also see "Alabama Tornado Pictures: Mile-Wide 'Monster' Slams Towns [2011].")
Published April 4, 2012
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Home in Shambles
Photograph by Tony Gutierrez/AP
A home in Forney, Texas, lies in shambles after a tornado ripped through on April 3.
The Texas tornadoes peeled roofs off homes, tossed big-rig trucks into the air, and left flattened tractor trailers strewn along highways and parking lots, according to the Associated Press.
"It was like The Wizard of Oz," resident Gwen Dabbs, who survived the tempest huddled in a corner of her living room, told CNN.
Published April 4, 2012
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Smashed Houses
Photograph by Vernon Bryant/AP
A tornado left houses in tatters in Lancaster, Texas, as seen on April 3.
Three people have been hospitalized in Arlington, Texas, but so far there are no reports of deaths, Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck told CNN.
Published April 4, 2012
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Tossed Trailers
Photograph by Tim Sharp/Reuters
Semi-tractor trailers lay where they were tossed by the Texas tornadoes on April 3.
More than a hundred aircraft at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were damaged by hail, airport spokesperson David Magana told CNN.
As of Wednesday morning more than 200 departures have been canceled due to the storms.
Published April 4, 2012
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Dog Rescue
Photograph by Tom Pennington, Getty Images
Arlington, Texas, police officer Rick Stewart (left) and Tarrant County Constable Clint C. Burgess rescue a dog that belongs to the daughter of David Lowe (right) after a tornado destroyed her home on April 3.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told CNN that the damage from the tornadoes could have been much worse.
"The big headline is that we dodged a big bullet," he told the news agency.
"We're saddened by the damage the system did, but we've got nobody that's dead and no significant injures. It really is a miracle."
Published April 4, 2012
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