NU Online News Service, April 12, 3:32 p.m. EDT
Dozens of homes have been scorched by wildfires in Texas, as the Dallas/Fort Worth area was pummeled by golf-ball-sized hail and tornadoes.
According to the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT), at least 40 homes have been destroyed by the fast-moving Rock House Fire, near the far west town of Marfa. At one point the fire burned 12 miles of ranch land in two hours, ICT reports.
The fire has consumed hundreds of thousands of acres. In nearby Fort Davis, the McDonald Observatory, which was being used an evacuation center, was also evacuated.
The observatory, a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin, is home to three multimillion-dollar telescopes, ICT says.
As of early April 12 the fire was just 10 percent contained.
Another fire, the Swenson Fire, has burned more than 70,000 acres in northeast Texas, but no homes have been damaged, ICT says.
Moving to the east, residents of the Dallas/Fort Worth area were hammered by large hail and strong winds late April 10 into April 11. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirms four tornadoes. Numerous reports of wind damage to homes and businesses as well as downed trees were reported in Kaufman, Johnson, Ellis, Hunt, Denton, Collin and Hopkins counties.
ICT says it may take several days to tally insured losses.
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