Residents across the metroplex are still feeling the pain from the three tornadoes that brought chaos to the area Sunday night.

Mike Darling – October 30, 2019

Residents across the metroplex are still feeling the pain from the three tornadoes that brought chaos to the area Sunday night; including the F3 tornado that ripped through the North Dallas area. It’s 16-mile path did more damage than anyone just a couple miles south of the storm could have imagined. With tens of thousands still without power, metroplex residents are expecting a major kink in their day to day routine this week. This surely will throw a kink in the everyday activities for hundreds of thousands of metroplex residents.

School districts and businesses in the storm’s path were left with a mess on Monday morning, and will be scrambling to figure out how to get back up and running as soon as possible. With close to 20 school closings and at least 11 restaurants and businesses being closed due to the storm’s damage, classroom and office alternatives are the most pressing issue the those affected. DART passengers who utilize the red and orange lines were out of luck Monday morning as the power outage affected service to downtown from Plano/Richardson. Service to downtown from the Park Lane Station was unaffected. However, the Blue Line service to Rowlett and Garland were also disrupted. Normal service is expected to resume Tuesday morning; although the Green Line service may be a bit slower to bring fully back up to speed due to the significant damage to northwest Dallas. Expect travel delays and the potential of cancelled business meetings across the metroplex this week!

The Office of Emergency Management is still assessing the property damages across the metroplex before declaring a state of emergency, which would garner potential FEMA funding. However, a local disaster was declared by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in order to receive help with repairs and cleanup from out of state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also declared a state of disaster in 15 North Texas counties, including Dallas, Collin, and Tarrant. A multitude of structures were damaged, one, caught by my partner and I while out touring some industrial parks near the airport. This is at the I-35/12 Hwy split where there is a new industrial park addition being developed that was destroyed. It will be interesting to see how many office and industrial tenants will need to seek out alternative lease options in the aftermath of Sunday’s storms; something that we at Whitebox will most surely be on top of looking to help in any way we can.