in the area. you can see that darkness there. that lowering. that's what we call the condensation funnel. that is the actual cloud developing by the low pressure. there is also debris. and we saw a huge cloud of debris that was churned up and thrown out by this tornado. and we've seen confirmation of that damage on the ground as well. >> i'm going to turn over our coverage to my colleague, martin bashir. he will continue to follow this news out of north texas. a series of tornadoes spotted on the ground. some unconfirmed. at least one of them confirmed. let me let you take over our coverage. >> thank you very much. we'll get to a pivotal day later in the broadcast. we begin with this news as you've been reporting. severe weather. indeed, frightening pictures of tornadoes tearing across texas. at least two reported twisters, likely more, and you can see one ripping across the state just moments ago. and now these first pictures of the destruction and aftermath, a lot filled with tractor-trailer

trucks literally tossed from one side to the other. this extreme weather. we're only beginning to know the full stenlt of the damage. we want to bring in charles hadlock. welcome. >> good afternoon here in north texas. what you're showing on tv is one of several that have been reported over north texas. right now, the extent of damage is unknown. we have a report from johnson county from our local affiliate kxas that there is tremendous damage near joshua. this also tornado you've been showing on msnbc is a tornado that started in ellis county, just south of dallas. and moved into southern dallas county. it is now in the eastern part of dallas county where a tornado warning remains for the next 20 minutes or so. martin? >> and as i understand it, this was in the southeast of dallas.

touching down near the town of red oak. literally lifting a number of tractor-trailers off the ground, tossing them around like confetti. this tornado has not slowed in terms of its speed. it is actually continuing to move. is that right? >> that's correct. it is moving at about a 30-mile-an-hour pace it is a moves off to the northeast. but they're other fubl clouds as well. there is a funnel cloud over arlington, texas, which is between dallas and ft. worth. that is tracking off to the north and northeast. in its path is one of the largest airports in the country. dfw airport. people there have been told to evacuate to shelter areas within the airport. as the black clouds continue to move north over the area. in fact, just here at the nbc bureau inside kxas, the power has just gone out. >> the power has gone out where you're sitting? >> yes. we're back on emergency generators now. >> and we understand that there is something like a hook forming just above the airport. we have a helicopter heading

there. can you tell us any more details about what's happening at the airport? >> the airport, of course, is a sprawling facility between dallas and ft. worth. there are designated areas where people can go in case of tornado warnings. i assume that's where they're going. we've been told the warnings have been issued for the airport, for people to seek shelter as this funnel cloud continues to move in their direction. >> okay. thanks so much. i want to bring in my colleague in a moment. tamron hall. sorry, we won't go to tamron. we'll to go meteorologist carl parker. >> we've been watching a very dangerous day today. the storms are ongoing. we have a couple storm i want to tell you about. one of those is now as you mentioned, just north of arlington near the airport. that tornado warning continues for ulis. irving, about 2:10 when that

possible tornado in your area. there is still a well defined circulation on that cell. the one between dallas and ft. worth. the one farther to the east on the east side of dallas. still showing a hook echo but it is not as well defined. that tornado actually dissipating in real-time. with the live aerials there but it was a well defined tornado. we saw quite a bit of debris. >> thank you very much. i'm join by my colleague, tamron hall. you have family members who are actually here in the path. >> my entire family is in the path. my mother just texted. my mother, she and an 11-year-old home sick from school today and a 2-year-old are in the home where my father has always told them to go for safety in the hallway. i just got a text from my nephew

in high school. i said where are you guys? he texted back to me, they're in the high school's hallway. i asked him if he is afraid. i've assured him you're okay. and he said i'm fine. my brother works at a bank not very far from that high school. according to him, they're no longer in a lockdown situation. they had taken she will at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. 1:00 p.m. local time, martin. so that's the latest. but they were in johnson county which is what we're looking at. this is the area my entire flame lives in right now and they have all either taken she will or just now are leaving out of safe places in the home. >> have they been able to describe any of the area? >> i have to be honest. i have not told my mother to go outside. my mother is inside right now. i've just spoken with my best friend who is in mesquite.

she said to me, mesquite schools, her children are in the schools and have taken cover. that is outside of dallas as well. sirens have been going off 30 minutes. i just texted her, where are you? waiting for a response from her regarding her whereabouts. like so many other children, we have a 6-year-old at school in johnson county where this video is taken. i have not been able to get confirmation on what is the situation with her school but it is a small school. so we're waiting normally around this time, she would be leaving school. but no one has gone to the school yet as a result of this weather for their safety. >> this is a sprawling urban area. a densely filled area of population. >> forefor purposes of understanding, north texas is one suburb after another. i said earlier, to get to your mailbox, you have to drive in some of these areas. it a very sprawling area. but you have large patches of

area without any property or businesses. that sprawl we talk about. it is not new york city where people are living in a dense ll populated city area. there is one patch of space with nothing and then another densely populated suburb with schools and other things located. >> and this area of arlington, which i understand also includes the dallas cowboys football stadium. >> and six flags, a very popular place. some of the students in the area have been on spring break. last week, this week, around this time of year you see that as well. you're about what is considered an entertainment complex. where you have the dallas cowboys stadium. a number of chain restaurants. places that you would see a lot of people gathered around at this time. >> those are pictures that we saw earlier of some tractors and trailers literally lifted up and tossed to the ground. initial examples of there johnson county. and you're saying your family

actually lives in that county. >> yes. my family lives in johnson county. for give me if i'm trying to read these messages from my family members. but our 6-year-old is still at school. she would normally be getting ready to get out of school at this time so we're working to find out if that school is at this point on lockdown. christina hall is in mesquite, texas. right outside of dallas. she is right now in her home in the bathroom text messaging me. her own children attend schools in mesquite and she can't leave to go get her children. she is right now in the bathroom in her own home shelter. >> tamron, can i ask you to stay with us. your connection with the people there is kind of vital to our reporting of the story. stay with us. but let's bring in texas state senator, i understand you are two miles north of dallas. what can you tell us about the

situation where you are? >> i am about two miles north of downtown dallas. the tornadoes touching down and in the mid city there, arlington in particular. at this point the local weather forecasters are telling everybody to take coverage and at least for the moment, assume the worst. >> at this point we don't have any reports of fatalities. can you tell us about any individuals who may have been physically affected by what's happened? >> i'm not aware of any injuries of that nature. there has been considerable property damage. there was a report a few moments ago of a storage yard for 18 wheelers. for large trucks. and the trucks are scattered around as if they were kids' toys. and i think we'll see a number of signs of severe damage of that nature when the storm finally lifts.

>> we understand there are no formal reports of injuries or fatalities but the damage is ongoing. and this is a live picture here of individuals in johnson county, as referred to by my colleague tamron hall. we're looking at individuals surveying the impact of the tornadoes. these tornadoes continue. there are public service warnings, are there not, in your area, senator, that are continuing. this tornado is not slowing down. it's moving at about 25 miles per hour, as i understand it. >> we do have a very good warning system. and sirens are going off particularly in this area of the city, north of dounlt. but i understand that even reaching out to the suburban communities right now, the alarms are sounded. >> we're looking at a portion of the city where the houses and roofs of the houses appear to be severely damaged. >> i just got a text from my

mother who is in this county, johnson county. this is where my mother lives. she is shelter in the home with an 11-year-old and a 2-year-old. she is telling me the sirens have resumed again. just within a few minutes, the sirens have stopped and they have since resumed. oddly enough, the bank where my brother is employed is about a five-minute drive away from my mother's home and he is saying that bank customers are still there. so they're no longer in lockdown. so in that little bit of a distance. and i cannot help you visualize other than by time. so five minutes away, there seems to be a bit clearer skies. we have a 6-year-old who is in school. we're working to get in contact with the school to find out if that school is in lockdown mode. at this point, not just my family. there are many terrified families. and this is a part of the country, i was born, bred, raised there. we're used to tornadoes. but nevertheless, this many and the ominous signs that you see. there both through video and the

words i'm seeing, we talk to people in the midwest. we saw substantial damage and loss of life. here we are at the beginning of the spring which is customary, this time of year in texas in the spring. we expected these tornadoes. nevertheless, this series in a short period of time. i'm not an expert. carl parker can give you the numbers. but having lived there for 41 years, i can tell that you this is frightening for the people of north texas. >> we're looking at these live pictures. you can see, we saw an image of a live vehicle that had been tossed into what appeared to be a house. and vehicles and people, you know, you can see times removed there. obviously these images are slightly staccato because they're being delivered by helicopter. >> we're nope for large churches. but obviously, this could be a school or some kind of apartment complex. i would gather to guess, not just by the design of it.

you see this building has several arms extending off of it. so this, what we're looking at here. i can't clearly tell. but you see that this is a substantial structure that has sustained a lot of damage there. >> thank you so much, tamron. do stay with us. let's bring in nbc's gabe gutierrez. hi. >> i'm stack outside. we're seeing a lot of lightning and hail of everybody outside has been asked to come in. you can see and hear this, some of the hail. it just started storming quite a bit. in the past few minutes, i was on a flight going from dallas-ft. worth to go to newark. about 20 minutes ago they told the passengers to get off the

plane. demaybe. when we got in the terminal, they kept telling the passengers to stay away from the windows. i tried to get a rental car. could not because the officials at the rental car told everyone to get inside. people have their faces pressed to the glass to see what's going. on it is very loud because hail is pelting the dallas airport which is shut down to all area traffic. >> we can actually hear it coming through from your cell phone. i'm assuming there will be no flights in or out of that airport for the immediate future. >> that's exactly right. they did not give as you time when our flight might be back in the air. but it might be at least several hours. let me step outside at a safe distance. as you can hear, huge hail is

pelting dallas-ft. worth. there are no passengers out here. trying to figure out how long this delay will be. >> i think you should go back inside because the sound of that hail is pretty heavy. you have something more. >> i just got a text from my brother that the 6-year-old in our family who is in school for the very first time. her school is in a duck and cover status. if you know anything about the dallas area, this is the protection they take. she is in kindergarten. duck and cover status. that school would be letting out in about 15 minutes. i do not believe that will be the case. i just texas. my brother, is the school allowing children out or will they allow them to leave? he said no. they're be letting children leave. no. >> and presumably parents aren't

getting in. >> most of the school in the south dallas area are in lockdown. ? this is north texas but we're looking at south dallas also. carl parker highlighted in the last ten minutes, arlington. that's where would you find the cowboys stadium. six flags. the texas rangers stadium. this is an entertainment complex. we're talking to a lot of people on twitter. people asking about why are so many people still driving? there is not mass transportation in the same way that it exists, for example, in the northeast. everyone pretty much drives. there is limited mass transportation. you independently drive. so we're talk b i-20, i-30, i-35. those are the major highways and they intersect the metroplex. this area that our reporter just said at the airport, that is about a 15-minute drive from cowboys stadium, texas rangers

stadium. this is a large area. texas is a big state and we know that. and this is a large portion of north texas. greatly affected by this activity. >> these images were taken a few moments ago of the funnel cloud and the impact of it. you can see small minor explosions and light-ups at the left of the screen. as it drives and picks up various tractors and trucks and tosses them aside. a horrendous scene. we understand it is moving in the direction, according to the national weather service in the direct of norman, oklahoma. we can see the movement of this storm. you were saying earlier that your mother was at home at the time? >> my mother is home right now. our texting started as soon as my executive producer got in my ear during the show and said,

listen, there's a tornado warning in north texas and he said johnson county. and i immediately said that's where my mother is right now. and i texted her. what's going on at the time? she said at the time -- >> literally while you were on air. >> yes. she said everything looks fine. the next text was we're moving to the hallway. i spoke with her briefly and texted my brother who is about five minutes away. i'm getting a text in right now. one of our colleagues in lewisville. they have taken cover in lewisville, texas, right outside of dallas. several of the hospitals including parkman hospital. many of you might know the name. that's the hospital that president kennedy was taken to after he was shot. obviously that name will sound familiar to you. i believe the name is code black. family members are taking cover. i also just got that note in. as you can imagine, my entire

family is in this area and the sirens are still going off. and like so many other families, they're not able to go and get children out of school. for their own safety and the safety of the children. but there are teachers who are there with those children, i imagine, comforting them. this is obviously frightening weather activity that has been hovering on the ground now. we've been watching this for well over an hour. >> and it is continuing to move and impact the local area. you were saying during your own broadcast that your mother happened to be at home with one of the children. >> two children. a 2-year-old and an 11-year-old who happens to be at home sick today from school. and i said to her, how are you? she applied, i'm good. everyone else is good. that's what her apply was to me initially. i said where are you? she said i'm sitting in the hallway. todd, my brother has call the school. they're in lockdown. it's raining really hard right

now is what she just texted me after i asked where they are. so she, my mother and the two children are until hallway. my brother is not very far away. he is also in lockdown at his bank. and the 6-year-old is on lockdown at her school and it is raining really hard there. those are my brother's words that she just texted. >> thank you very much. please stay with us. thank you. it's very early but at this point we have no reports of fatalities. with tornado watches in effect until 8:00 p.m. well, of course, continue to watch for developments in this severe weather story. stay with us.

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i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. we're following the impact of a tornado in the dallas area which is moving north. we're going to take a listen to our local affiliate station, kxas. here is their reporting. >> you can see kind of some activity off here toward the

south. more cells developing. where are you right now and what are you seeing? >> i'm on centreville road near duck creek. i have a low, very low wall cloud that's moved off to the northeast. i can't see underneath it right now. it was kind of a funnel shaped broad lowering. i'm trying to get closer to it. it was o-clueded and left behind. i'm not able to see it. >> does it appear to be the circulation appear to be north or south of miller road? >> very close to miller road. hard to say right now. >> it looks to be centerville and miller road. a wall cloud and a lowering. we appreciate that. get back with us if you have anything new. and don't hesitate to interrupt

us. if you see something, be safe out there. dave, it looks like this may be a line trying to form. still have to watch the detached area. it looks like there might be something else trying to form here. if that happens, these storms farther south would occlude and intercept, or cut off the flow into that main storm. >> we've just had reports of hail of golf ball size. >> that's in garland. this is the broad overview. notice the line of storms. >> we are watching our local nbc affiliate, kxas as they cover the path of this tornado storm. obviously a very serious public situation. let's go to the fire chief, steve carter. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> where are you and what have you seen? >> right now, we're at our

weather operations center here in town. and we've seen a lot of activity, serious activity on the radar. we've got a lot of severe storms moving through the area and a lot of rain. >> do you have any reports of damage, whether to persons or to property? >> not at this time. it's been so far, relatively quiet. in the city. we're expecting some activity in our sorth portion of our county, which is our southern most of our city in lewisville. we did activate our tornado sirens earlier with the anticipation of this weather. and hopefully everybody was able to hear it and take precautions as necessary. >> i ought to give you the opportunity, if you wish, to tell our viewers what they should be doing, if they are anywhere near the path of this storm. >> the basic thing. get to the center most portion

of your home. stay away from glass windows. probably the biggest thing i would like to pass on to those listening is don't wait until you see something. take actions now and precaution. because it is not always what you can see around you. it might be over your head or just pop up at any minute. so take precautions. get to a safe area of your home or a building where you are. of course, they do a very good job here of working with the students and preparing the schools for this type of emergency situation. >> steve carter, thank you so much for joining us. and on the telephone now is richard hill. the dallas public information officer. good afternoon, mr. hill. >> what can you tell us about the situation where you are? >> emergency personnel are currently assessing the situation. we're advising residents, of course, to seek shelter. to tune to their local radio

news broadcasts for current conditions. we have the city of dallas has activated the emergency operations center in the office emergency management. our person relevant currently looking at the situation in terms of property damage. it is early on and all of our people are out trying to assess what the situation is at this point in time. >> as we look at the pictures being fed here into us in new york, there is a fairly large amount of cloud. and it looks very dark and frankly, very ominous. >> yeah. it got dark pretty quick. and we've had a couple of at least two tornadoes sighted in dallas and tarrant county. >> what about thing like public spaces? schools? other institutions? what is the situation with regard to them? >> well, they're all taking shelter, finding shelters,

schools, and universities, in the area. they're getting people to shelters which is what we advise them to do. >> thank you for joining us. have you got anything you can update us on in. >> i do know that at least in jans county, which is the area we started watching. this is a video you're seeing there. they're getting substantial rain. my mother does not hear any sishs in her area any longer. she has no power though. within the last few minutes, she's lost all power so i'm giving her now updates on this situation. so she says the power is still out. as i mentioned, she is with two children and they want to go pick their sister up from school. they're afraid. we're telling them you have to wait. she's safe and she's on lockdown as well. you have a text coming in from someone who is like my sister.

she is in mesquite. she was the person at the beginning of the show that i mentioned was in the bathroom hiding. she said i just went outside. it is not raining but very dark. she is now trying to collect her wits, if you will, to find a way to contact her own children on lockdown and her husband. these people are all in the north texas area. my 6-year-old niece's school, they're not allowing children to leave and not advising parents at this point to go in. this is johnson county that i'm referring to. >> these are live pictures. >> yes, and this is where my entire family have sought shelter as best they can, like the other hundreds of thousands of people in this area. we're talk bing about a huge swatch. the airport, you had the live report. that's where american airlines is based. a number of people connect through dallas airport. when you think about this, think of north texas.

that is a huge part of the state and a tremendous number of people trying to get the latest information on what's going on. >> your brother who is a banker was also in his bank. is he still on lockdown? >> they are no longer on lockdown. he said that they appeared, and they're getting the information sporadically. he's in a bank. they don't have a lot of tvs set up. they appear to be out of tornado warning. just rain now. i told him they're still under a warning. so not to leave as of yet. he is still at the office. depending on me and other people who have phones who have information, to give them the information. >> that pillar of cloud that is literally over that communicate as our camera stretches across jabs county. where many members of your own family are. >> and many children. people obviously not just about my family but there are many kids who are in school. this is the time of day you

would see the elementary school students start to leave. also around this time, middle school and high school. in about an hour usually, or so, you would see that. it's 2:30 local time. that's about the time, martin, you would start to see elementary school children, you know, be picked up by their parents. >> like presental rush hour. >> exactly. this is the parental rush hour. i was just in north texas in this area we're at, last week, picking up my niece celebrating her sixth birthday. today a week later, she is inside this school. she is in kindergarten and has no way of knowing that her aupt and her grandmother and her mother and father, who are both at work. my brother and father are at work. like the other children, she is expecting someone to pick her up around this time. so oxley, we're waiting to get information. this ominous cloud. we've been watching over johnson

county for quite some time. i can't stress enough, when you think about these counties, we're about this massive state. and when you're looking at north texas stretching up, sprawling. we're now talking about oklahoma. this possible tornadic activity. we're looking at now a second state. used to tornadoes, used to duck and cover drills. used to this kind of thing. i knew instantly as a child when my father told us to go in the bathroom for safety. when my parents moved into the home they're in now, my father, that's the first thing you do. you scout out where you would go in the event of a tornado. and so my mother right now with the two children in the very spot that my father always told us to go in for safety in this home. so this is the county. we're talk b something larger than johnson county. and i say several thousand people in the path, and i'm underestimating this number greatly. we want to bring in charles

hadlock. indiana you have new information. >> a nursing hole, a nursing home has been hit northeast of dallas. official are still trying to sort through the debris there. one forecaster is calling this an historic tornado outbreak for north texas. i've lived here quite a long time and i can't remember a time when we saw long track tornadoes like we saw today. on the ground for 20, 30 minutes. in fact, the radars are still the small hook echos that seem to cover north texas right now. >> do you have any information on whether that hook is over the airport? we were getting reports a few minutes ago suggesting that that was what was happening. that the major dallas-ft. worth airport. >> right. you heard from gabe gutierrez who was in the airport at the time. that storm has moved to the northeast. we do not know of any reports of damage at the airport.

but the towns to the north of dallas-ft. worth. going to oklahoma, should be on the lookout for these storms. thousands of passengers at the dallas-ft. worth international airport were told to seek shelter. there are places of shelter in some of the terminals there and we assume a lot of people sought shelter as the black clouds moved their way. >> thank you. let's bring in weather channel carl parker. and carl, what do you think with the direction of this storm? attem tamron and i were just being told that it is moving in the direct of oklahoma. >> we are seeing storms moving toward the red river. once you get into, oh it is less incline to rise and produce these damaging storms. still, there will be a threat. certainly a tornado. for tornadoes there in oklahoma. you're looking at a picture there. the storm in johnson county, right now. you see that tremendous dark area. that is a hail core. a tremendous area of rain and

hail that is coming out of this cloud. the most dangerous of storms. the rotating storms are on the north side of dallas. there's a whole series of storms coming into the south survived dallas. and with those, we will get some wind and some hail. that's exactly what we're at. that dark area is where the hail and the rain is dumping out of the base of that cloud. we've gotten a number of reports of large hail. we've heard about the damage from the tornadoes. now those two tornadic storms, those rotating storms on the north side of town. one of them, very close to carrollton right now and moving up toward the 35 east corridor. another of them moving away from garland. there is yet another storm behind that showing some sign of rotation. that's not uncommon in a case like this. when you've got an environment that favors rotating storms. when you've got the wind shear and the low level humidity. oftentimes you will get multiple

storms. the two most dangerous storms are now moving away from dallas and ft. worth in their wake. at least for the time being. what we appear to be looking at is more of a wind and hail threat coming toward dallas and ft. worth. >> we know the tornado touched down for several minutes near the town of red oak. we've heard about the damage to this nursing home. we've seen trucks and tractor-trailers tossed around. does the storm slow down as a result of touching down or not? >> generally no. it should continue at 25 to 30 miles an hour. the storm movement is a function of the upper level wind. and you may recall that back on march 2, we had that major tornado outbreak in the ohio valley and the southeast. and of course, we had a huge tornado outbreak last year. april 27th. in those cases, there was very strong wind aloft. moving perhaps 60 to 70 miles an

hour, as you get up toward the middle to upper levels of the atmosphere and actually considerably faster than that when you go way up in the atmosphere. that was moving those storms along at that pace. in some cases, 60 or 70 miles an hour. in this case, the upper level wind is not as strong, so you've got more of a slower pace. 25-mile-an-hour storm. but that's interesting. the storm can actually cause more damage if it is moving along very slowly. that was the case in joplin, missouri. moving more slowly. it was a large tornado so it lasted for a very long time. you hear people talk about tornadoes being in and out. it is over in a matter of seconds. if they're moving more slowly, they can sit and cause more damage for a longer period of time. >> i understand the tore con index has been raised to 6. what does that mean? >> that means a 6 in 10 chance of getting a tornado within that

area. the shear values are high enough that what you're getting is not only storms building up to the atmosphere but because of the change in wind direction and wind speed, that is creating a rotation in the atmosphere, much the way it would if you were to roll a pencil in between your two hands. that rotation then gets tilted into the vertical and gets these storms rotating. so that's the environment that we're at today. again, it is not the most extreme environment with a tremendous amount of wind around, or wind sheer. but it is enough to get these storms rotatinrotating. we've been looking at above average temperatures for a very long period of time. and storms require warmth and moisture to build into the atmosphere and they have an abundance of that in north texas. and even into central texas and into southern oklahoma. so these are the areas where we're going to be watching for more storms to develop through the course of the afternoon. >> so we're talking about a 6 in 10. a 60% chance of a tornado within

what? 50 miles either side of the point? >> a 50-mile radius. a 6 in 10 chance that we will see tornado within that 50-mile radius. so that's a pretty good chance. our tor-con index, well, when it hit birmingham, it was as high as 9 in 10. a 6 in 10 chances is nothing to sneeze at. it is very serious. but it is not the highest of chances. if we go to 9 and 10. you certainly want to be on your guard here as these storms continue to move from dallas and up across the red river valley. and again, outside of that tornado threat, you have the whole host of storms. this collection of storms now coming into the metroplex. and we've got a large hail threat. a wind threat. this on top of the damage that we've apparently already seen considerable damage. what we've heard of on the south side of town. that's not surprising what we've

got from the helicopter moments ago. that tornado touched down. we watched a cloud of debris develop around the base of that storm and then spread out in all directions, being spun out essentially. so clearly there was a time when that storm, the eastern most storm, the one that came into east dallas. there was a time when that storm was causing quite a bit of damage. >> meteorologist carl parker providing us expert coverage there. thank you so much. joining us now. representative michael burgess whose district includes parts of dallas-ft. worth texas. what are you hearing and seeing at this precise moment? >> well, when things began to go bad, i left my district office and came home to secure a few things that i had meant to secure earlier. i'm just north of the airport.

when it passed over, the rain was so intense that you couldn't see much of anything. a lot of lightning and thunder and wind. we will wed some hail but it was pretty modest. other areas i fear have gotten, have probably suffered more greatly. >> i understand that ironically, you were holding a conference on emergency preparedness just at the weekend. is that right? >> well, a week from saturday on the 14th. in the city of denton. yes, sir. >> and presumably, the information that you would be providing that would be discussed is precisely what's being expedited by people on the ground even as we speak. >> yes, sir. we do this every spring. because texas, we're no stranger to severe weather in this part of north texas. so every april, i try to do a gathering of state, central and local officials who deal with emergency preparedness. we have some information up on our official website.

house.gov.burgess. we do this every year because it is something that people do need to be aware of. they need to have a plan. and again, as i outlined to you, i knew the weather was coming but i had not quite done everything that i had intended to do before it arrived. with the placement of a vehicle, some livestock that i take care of. people do need, preparedness is the key. ? i understand you're also a doctor. so presumably, you would be aware of the kind of impact this would have on people as well as property in that area through your own experience. >> yes, sir. and boy, didn't it hit home last year in joplin when the hospital was one of the hardest hit areas in that town. and just imagine the difficulties that were experienced by the doctors and nurses and the patients and families who were there that day. it is rare that you have that intersection of the actual medical services and the

ferocity of the storm. but it really brought it home to us. that the medical facilities are crucially important at a time like this. >> indeed they are. representing dr. michael burgess. back to tamron. >> at least for johnson county, this area we're at. despite the ominous clouds in that video, certain portions of the area, people are seeing a little better weather. obviously, i'm not saying to go outside or do anything. you'll have to listen to the local warnings if you're listening to us. a lot of people have the weather radio in their home to keep track of that situation. i spoke with my mother. she has no power. i sent her a text a moment ago. i said it will be okay. she is riding it out like so many other people. i want to pick up on what charles hadlock said.

i've known him for many years. i started my career working for cbs in dallas-ft. worth as a general assignment report he. not being a storm chaser but they would sure put us out there to follow the storms and the damage. we see a lot of hail this time. year. i've seen people seriously injured right around this time of year between april and may. i believe actually, one of the most horrific stories i ever covered was a festival. and there was an outbreak of hail that seemingly came out of nowhere. and people were running for cover. and i'll never forget the image of bloody faces from this golf ball size hail that was coming down many years ago, as a general assignment reporter. we're talk b this tornadic activity. we've had the reports of hail which can be damaging to property but of course life as well. this is the video out of johnson county.

in johnson county, they're getting heavy rain. the watch and warnings are under effect until 8:00 p.m. local time. we have still not picked up children from school. family members are waiting. this is still a very dangerous situation. >> carl, i think we have you. your former colleague referring to your work together. >> yes, we've been watching this go on for a while of there was a brand new tornado warning going on for downtown dallas. there is a big line of storms off to the west. and this appears to be a circulation that has developed within that line which is not uncommon. the cell that we've been watching prior to this have been what we call super cell thunderstorms. these are sort of lone wolf storms that develop rotation within them. and from that rotation comes the tornado. we've seen many reports of tornadoes already today in dallas-ft. worth.

now those storms are traveling to the north side of dallas and ft. worth. a brand new tornado warning with the line of storms that is now coming across the east side of ft. worth. along the leading edge of that line. there may well be circulation of that tornado and that will cut across possibly the northwest side of the dallas metro. so getting toward the 35 east corridor. this tornado threat continues. in addition to that, you've got these tremendous deep red cores. when you see that deep red color, what that is is the radar picking up a very high reflectivity. there are only certain things that will give that you high reflectivity. one is very heavy rain. another is large hail. and we've gotten the reports of large hail already today. so above and beyond the threat for tornadoes, which is certainly there. you have the threat for large

hail. maybe a ping pong ball or a golf ball size hail. then there is generally a damaging wind threat. when you see a line of storms which is exactly what is cutting across between ft. worth and dallas right now. with those generally there is more of a wind threat than a tornado threat. sometime you get a circulation within that line. and that's what we're watching now. back to you. >> carl parker. stay with us as we cover this storm. this tornado as it goes north from dallas. we'll be right back. een a seismt in what passes for common sense. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow. then the world changed... and the common sense of retirement planning became anything but common. fortunately, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. take control by opening a new account or rolling over an old 401(k) today, and we'll throw in up to $600. how's that for common sense?

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welcome back. we have spent the hour watching severe weather developments in the dallas-ft. worth area, pictures of twisters tearing across the state, and only now the aftermath and destruction is becoming clearer. this weather is not over yet. the warning is on until 8:00 p.m. this evening.

today this was an eyewitness to the storms in his native texas. jim, what can you tell us? what did you see? >> i was driving from dallas to ft. worth, and i called a friend of mine and he said the storm was in arlington, and that's where i was. it made me a little nervous. i looked off to the west, which is a little south, and i saw as dark a cloud as i could see, and it kind of was in a funnel formation down to the ground. it was far enough away that i couldn't tell if it was an actual tornado or not, but what i'm seeing now is right over near ft. worth, it's starting to clear up. but just north of there, it's very nasty looking. very dark clouds going all the way to the ground, and i would say that's the area that would appear to be the most in jeopardy right now. also just south of arlington, still, it's very dark and you can see where the lines on these clouds are very defined.

so you can see these -- i'm not a weather man, but i can see these storms look to be pretty unpredictable and pretty nasty. >> did you see any specific damage to buildings and property as you drove through? >> no, but bear in mind, when i called in, the rain hit me really hard, so it was difficult to see much in front of me at all. i could tell that -- you could see the differences between where the storm was and where it wasn't because it would get dark very quickly, like within seconds, and it made me pretty nervous, and again, i saw what looked like a cloud that went all the way to the ground just south of where i was, south of arlington, and this would have been about five minutes ago. >> well, i suggest, sir, you get safe. jim lecamp, thanks so much for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> joining me now is the mayor

that serves johnson county. good afternoon, ma'am. >> good afternoon. >> what are you seeing? >> there are two tornadoes. one has hit in the east-southeast dallas county, and the other one hit northwest. i'm right in the middle of that. it has not yet struck downtown dallas, or highland park or richardson. but it has hit grand prairie, deso desoto, duncanville, mesquite and garland, addison and grapevine. so i'm safe right now in a dark city. it appears there has been quite a bit of material destruction. i have not heard of any lives lost yet, which is very important. but what i'm very proud about is that the satellites that were developed by nasa really has

given us the warning, and it has given the opportunity for people to get in safe places. >> that's wonderful. we are hearing from the public information officer for the city of cannondale there's been severe damage to a local water main on new hope road, there's been major structural damage to residential properties, power lines are down, but as yet, thankfully, no fatalities, although there appear to have been a number of injuries. you're in what's described as that sprawling series of suburbs, is that right, with a large number, a large population? >> yes. very large population. and we have seen roofs lifted. i have not physically been out to the area. i will later today if it appears safe, but i will be here the rest of the week to see exactly what the destruction has been. i am very proud of the fact that we had early warning, and many of the people had an opportunity

to get in safe places. >> absolutely agreed. we were looking at pictures moments ago at the pillar of cloud that was literally dark and suddenly the area was lit up by what appeared to be some kind of electrical explosion and tractor-trailers literally picked up and tossed like c confetti at a wedding. >> that's exactly right, on i-20. >> we have images of johnson county of what appears to be a very large structure. simply the roof peeled off like the lid of a can and severe damage to the structure of the building there. >> and the destruction continues. we will continue to watch it, i hope. i will be safe. i hope all of the people will be safe, and i hope we can avoid as much destruction as possible, but even if we can't avoid destruction in this natural disaster, we hope to save lives.

>> representative eddie bernice johnson, we share your view in that and we hope you'll be safe and your constituents, too. thanks for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> let's bring in gabe who is at the dallas county airport. gabe, you put your cell phone, when we were last talking, right by the window, and what we could hear was this thundering sound of hailstones hitting the glass. has that eased off at all? >> martin, yeah, it's eased up just a little bit. it is now raining and actually stopped hailing for, i would say, about 15 to 20 minutes, and then a huge rainstorm started up again. dfw still pretty much shut down, although some of the parking shuttles have started to start back up again. passengers are still being put on hold, they're looking out the window to see when this thing is going to end. there's lots of tornado warnings

and people being urged to stay off the roadways, but as of right now, dfw is still shut down, martin. >> i'm assuming, gabe, the airport is still literally full of passengers, flying personnel. nobody is outside. >> that's about right. it's going to ease up for a few minutes and people would go out and take pictures of the hail. you know, it's pretty large hail from what i could tell. i'm at the rental car center right now, was able to get out of the main terminal, but it is still coming down pretty hard out here and there's still concern that there could be more severe weather on the way, martin. >> and gabe, are you hearing more about when the airport expects to start aircraft flying in and out again, because that is a major airport. >> that's exactly right, and, as you know, many, many flights go through dallas-ft. worth every day, and i have not heard when this airport is expected to reopen. right now personnel inside the terminal are trying to figure out the same thing.

but just take one look outside and it doesn't appear it's going to open any time soon, martin. >> okay, gabe gutierrez, our nbc correspondent at dallas-ft. worth airport. thank you, sir. it is very early. at this point there are no reports of injuries or fatalities, but what is clear, the destruction from these storms is only now becoming more and more evidenced as we see in the pictures that arrive from the scene. do stay with us here at msnbc for the latest developments on this severe weather story, but now, thank you so much for watching. a slightly different program to the one we show you, but just as important. dylan ratigan, how are you, dylan? >> i'm great. a stunning message of power. we begin with continuing coverage of absolutely profound images of densely populated areas with multiple twisters touching down. four confirmed reported in just