Officials are assessing damage and injuries, and beginning to clean up after two tornadoes moved across the downtown area of the city. Preliminary news reports indicate that at least five people died and at least 50 people were injured. Fire Department Lt. Two other people died in heavy flooding in the eastern portion of the county in the Arlington area. Large hailstones can fall at the rate of 90 miles per hour.
Hail is dangerous but an infrequent killer.
Other historical U.S. hail fatalities included one death in the 1700's, two deaths in the 1800's, and three deaths in the 1900's. See the CNN Forth Worth Twisters for more information. The Selected U.S. City and State Extremes provides a list of new records that were set across the U.S. during March 2000.