High winds bring down trees, knock out power in parts of North Texas

ALLEN, Texas - A rare summer cold front brought severe weather to North Texas Sunday night.

The storms brought several inches of rain to some areas, as well as high winds and small hail.

FOX 4 viewer Sue Martin Bunner in Plano shared video of the dramatic lightning that accompanied the storms.

A lot of people had tree branches or even whole trees knocked down by the storms. That includes Cindy Henicke, who had a very old pecan tree fall in her backyard in Arlington.

“I think it was probably 6:30 p.m. the winds kicked up and it felt like it only blew for about five to ten minutes. It didn’t seem like it was enough time to take out a bunch of tree limbs, blow stuff all in my pool and everything like that,” said Ray Zellan, an Allen resident.

Zellan’s family hid in a closet under the stairs because of the estimated 60 mph winds.

The Texas Baptist Men, a group known for helping out after major disasters, set out with chainsaws Monday morning to help people clean up in the hard-hit neighborhood in Allen.

“All of these guys that are out here today are volunteers. Just a few phone calls and a couple of emails for volunteers to come help, that’s just kind of what we do is to come out and help these homeowners,” said Dwain Carter, a director for the Texas Baptist Men.

The group plans to help out in other parts of the Metroplex as needed.

The storms knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. At last check, Oncor said more than 38,000 customers were without power around North Texas.