A tornado tore homes and businesses apart in a densely populated area of Dallas, where only minor injuries were reported, but a person was killed by a falling tree in northwest Arkansas as a late-night series of storms caused chaos in several states.
Radar confirmed the tornado struck near Dallas Love Field Airport around 9 pm Sunday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Godwin.
There were no reports of fatalities or serious injuries in Texas on Monday, but Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans says three people were hospitalized for evaluation of injuries that were not life-threatening.
Tens of thousands of people were without electricity. Dallas Love Field spokesman Chris Perry said the airport was not damaged in the storm.
Tornado warnings were in effect Monday morning in far eastern Arkansas near the Mississippi River as the storm system moved to the east.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says areas of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee could see severe thunderstorms later Monday.
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Dallas-based radio station KNON-FM went off the air when the studio suffered major damage from the tornado.
Lew Morris, one of the hosts of "Reckless Rock Radio," told The Associated Press that the power went out first, followed by the "distinctive whistle" of a tornado within three minutes.
He and another radio show host sheltered in the bathroom.
"We then heard the building shaking and could hear the glass windows shattering everywhere along with debris banging around. We waited until all the noise died down," Morris said.
"We walked out to see the studio he was just broadcasting from destroyed."