By Scott Harvey
Severe weather plus a possible tornado brings power outages to thousands in the Northeast Texas region Saturday.
A tornado warning was issued just before 4:00 p.m. Saturday for portions of Collin, and all of Hunt and Rockwall Counties. At approximately 4:10 p.m., power began to flicker in Commerce before going out completely in a large portion of the area.
The National Weather Service indicated a developing tornado was spotted near Rockwall and moving east at approximately 45 mph. The tornado was possibly spotted between Greenville and Commerce, but had not been confirmed.
According to Stan McKey with Oncor, approximately 2,400 Commerce residents were without power as of 5:00 p.m. and another 13,000 to 14,000 system-wide, which encompasses a large portion of East Texas and into Dallas. By around 7:30 p.m. power had been restored to a majority of the Commerce area.
Commerce Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Harrison says there had not been any injuries, at last report, despite numerous downed limbs and trees. One tree along Monroe St. was completely uprooted, falling on a house.
Hunt County Emergency Management Coordinator Richard Hill also said there were several downed limbs and power lines county-wide, noting damage reported in the Cash area of south Hunt County.
Severe weather sprung up again at around 10:00 p.m., as severe thunderstorms were issued for Fannin and Hunt County, producing more rain and possible flooding.