Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, March 29, 2000

March 28-29, 2000 - Event NarrativeSevere thunderstorms developed rapidly late the afternoon of the 28th just ahead a a dry line from near Henrietta to Breckenridge, and between Brownwood and Burnett. Several brief tornadoes developed from these supercells, but longer lived ones did considerable damage to portions of Fort Worth, Arlington, and Grand Prairie. Another tornado struck rural areas of Navarro county east of Corsicana. The two tornadoes that affected Tarrant county were both rated F3. Two people were killed as a direct result of the tornado near Fort Worth, while two others drowned in flash flooding east of Fort Worth. A fifth person was struck by softball size hail and died the next day. About 100 people were injured, but only about a half dozen required hospitalization.The storms did an estimated $450 million in damage in and near Fort Worth, Arlington and Grand Prairie. Over 100 homes were destroyed, 200 others sustained major damage, and 800 sustained minor damage. Some eight commercial buildings suffered major damage, including extensive window damage to several large buildings in downtown Fort Worth. Hail did extensive damage to roofs and autos in Lake Worth and Saginaw. Another $10 million was spent among the various communities in cleanup and overtime costs, while $1.8 million was estimated to be lost in property and sales tax revenue. The building housing a chocolate distribution company lost their building worth $10 million, and their supply of chocolate worth $1.5 million.