Severe storms rage through southern US states

HOUSTON - Severe storms on Monday evening raged through the southern US states of Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi, bringing hail and severe winds that damaged vehicles, homes and triggered power outage.

In Texas, hail as large as tennis balls slammed the northern part of the Lone Star state, damaging vehicles, homes and injuring two persons, NBC News reported.

Wylie, a city near the northern Texas city of Dallas, is among the hardest-hit areas with reports of 4.25-inch (about 10.8 cm) hails, which caused serious damage to several homes, vehicles and injuries to two persons, and forced the closure of schools on Tuesday.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, experienced departure delays of up to 45 minutes because of the severe storms. Power outages were reported across the region and affected more than 10,000 people.

In Arkansas, nearly 6,000 people were still without power and four people were trapped in their homes by falling trees after severe winds tore through Garland, a town in Miller County.

The storms also caused fires in the southern part of Arkansas, where lightning strikes sparked three fires in the town of El Dorado, including one that destroyed a church.