Plains get snow, Texas gets tornado as storm moves east

Storyhighlights
• Severe storm drops nearly a foot of snow in central Plains
• Tornado spawned in Texas; one death blamed on high winds
• Messy weekend in store as storm moves toward East Coast

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A severe storm dropped nearly a foot of snow on parts of the central Plains Friday and spawned at least one tornado in Texas, where one death was blamed on high winds.

The storm shattered glass at a Forth Worth grocery store, injuring five people, while a man unloading his truck elsewhere was crushed under his load of lumber, fire spokesman Lt. Kent Worley said.

In nearby Haltom City, several homes and businesses were damaged and about a dozen tractor-trailers were pushed onto their sides. The Valley Missionary Baptist Church there was destroyed. (Watch ominous clouds gather over Texas Video)


_{Lightning strikes in downtown Dallas, Texas, on Friday. A system brought hail and strong winds, but no injuries were reported.}

Amanda Rymer, 21, said she had a split-second to pull her 2-year-old daughter safety.

"I felt my house start shaking like the wind and I ran in here and grabbed my little girl," she said. "As soon as I moved her, the roof fell in right where she was standing."

Rymer said she rushed her daughter into a bedroom and pulled a mattress over her. Then she ran back to the living room for her 2-month-old son, who was sitting in a baby swing.

"I didn't know if I was going to come out here and my little boy would be dead or alive or even here," she said.


_{In Haltom City, Texas, more than a dozen truck trailers lie overturned in a business area Friday}

About 23,000 customers were without power Friday because the storms downed trees and power lines, said Gailee Cardwell, a spokeswoman for TXU Electric Delivery.

The storm also forced the cancellation of NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying races at Texas Motor Speedway. Thousands of fans were advised to move to safety as tornado sirens blared at the speedway in Fort Worth.

To the north, the storm caused whiteout conditions on Kansas highways and forced some schools to close early.

Truck stop worker Sylvia Smith-Metcalf said conditions were so bad that she would not be able to make a 30-mile drive home to Jetmore when her shift ended.

"They got me a motel room right next door," she said. "I'm supposed to get off work at 10, provided the person on the next shift can get in."

A tornado was spotted near Bedford, a suburb in between Dallas and Forth Worth, though no damage was reported, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm system was headed toward the East Coast, where it was expected to create a messy weekend.

Winds up to 25 mph were forecast for the Carolinas on Saturday before the storm was to hit the Northeast with heavy snow or rain by Sunday. Forecasters also warned of possible flooding.

The storm's combination of snow, rain and high wind was unusual for this time of year, said Brian Korty, a National Weather Service forecaster in Camp Springs, Maryland.

Jan Mahon said people around McCook, Nebraska, have spring fever and are eager to get out and do some gardening at home or start planting crops in the fields. But after years of abnormally dry or drought conditions near McCook, residents do see the benefit of the snow.

"Everybody's tired of it," Mahon said. "We like the moisture, but we'd rather have rain."

The storm follows an earlier system that grounded hundreds of flights in the Midwest on Wednesday before delivering up to a foot fresh snow to northern New England on Friday.

_{Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.}

WFAA's storm-chasing news team tracks severe weather across Fort Worth, Texas. (April 14)

Video: Chasing a Texas tornado