Dirty storms roll east after hitting Texas and Louisiana

The storm system moved east Friday, threatening heavy snowfall across the Midwest and Northeast after likely tornadoes hit Texas and Louisiana, damaging homes, campus and leaving thousands without power.

The Storm Prediction Center said the storms will threaten the Tennessee and Ohio valleys with tornadoes as they move towards New England. A streak of heavy snow is expected Friday and Saturday in the Upper Midwest across New England, with sleet and freezing rain possible south of the heaviest snowfall.

No deaths or injuries were reported from the storms that hit Texas and Louisiana Thursday night after California hit 7 feet of snow earlier this week.

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth scheduled a damage survey Friday near Picton, about 80 miles (130 km) east of Dallas, where it said the confirmed tornado hit.

Winds of nearly 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour) were recorded near the Dallas suburb of Blue Mound. The roof of an apartment building in the suburbs of Hearst was blown away, resident Michael Roberts told KDFW-TV.

“The whole building began to shake. … The whole ceiling is gone,” Roberts said. “It got really crazy.”

Louisiana State University Shreveport buildings were damaged and trees were downed, but the campus will reopen on Friday after being closed overnight, spokeswoman Erin Smith said.

About 100,000 customers in Texas had no power on Friday morning, and more than 11,000 in Louisiana, according to PowerOutage.us.

Heavy rain was reported in northern Arkansas where police in Hardy, about 115 miles (185 km) north of Little Rock, asked residents along the Spring River to evacuate their homes due to flooding, while hail was reported in Oklahoma and strong wind.