Rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of campaign workers outside the Murphy Community Center following a night of storms that downed trees and knocked out power in many neighborhoods.
The Tuesday, May 28, runoff election was held as scheduled throughout Collin County while public works crews and citizens used chainsaws to open blocked roads.
Tens of thousands of Dallas-area residents awoke to thunder and lightning — but no electricity in their homes, offices and businesses.
“We are currently monitoring and responding to outages caused by thunderstorms producing large hail and wind gusts up 80 mph in DFW and surrounding areas,” Oncor Electric Delivery said Tuesday morning. “Severe storm watches and warnings remain in effect for parts of our service area. We appreciate your patience as we work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power.”
The National Weather Service warned the Trinity River had reached flood stage of 9 feet near the Carrollton Golf Course and would be over the banks most of the day. Many areas remained under a Flash Flood Warning following a night of torrential downpours.
The severe thunderstorms followed Saturday night’s tornadoes that plowed a swath across North Texas, killing seven people in Cooke County and causing widespread damage and power outages. More than 100 people were hurt.
Valley View, along Interstate 35, was the hardest hit along with a marina and mobile home park near Lake Ray Roberts. The Weather Service said the supercell storm spawned at least four twisters ranging up to EF-3 in strength with winds estimated at 165 mph near Celina.
The onslaught began at 9:42 p.m. May 25 near Bowie in Montague County. Moving eastward, the supercell intensified as it moved into Cooke and Denton Counties, bulldozing the Shell/AP Travel Center in Valley View.
The storm destroyed homes in Celina as it moved into Collin County, threatening Anna, Melissa and Princeton, where a warning was issued just before 10:30 p.m.. Powerful winds caused scattered damage as the system moved into Hunt County and warnings were allowed to expire.
Collin County Judge Chris Hill issued a disaster declaration on Sunday, May 26, and Gov. Greg Abbott visited Valley View to assess the damage.
On Monday, May 27, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a declaration that “homeowners and renters in Collin, Cooke, Denton and Montague counties are now eligible for FEMA assistance after the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding that began April 26.”
Eligible applicants may qualify for serious needs assistance, basic home repairs, personal property losses and other eligible expenses related to storm damage.
Homeowners and renters can apply online at: disasterassistance.gov.

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