By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated at 3:30 p.m. ET: At least two tornadoes touched down in areas south of Dallas on Tuesday, causing widespread damage. The National Weather Service described them as "large and extremely dangerous."
With the storms still moving northeast through the region, many properties were damaged or destroyed and the Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport was also in the path of one storm, NBCDFW.com reported.
Dallas flights were shut down and travelers at the airport were told to take shelter.
"This is a serious situation," the NBC affiliate reported over the air, as meteorologists showed live footage of "debris balls" in Dallas, Johnson and Tarrant counties.
Live video showed a huge funnel cloud moving through a populated area as flashes of exploding power lines lit the sky. Vehicles were thrown across a major highway.
Large trucks were seen being flung through the air. "There's lots of 18-wheelers," said NBC 5 reporter Mola Lenghi near Arlington. "I've never seen this before."
"There's tremendous damage here," said NBC 5 reporter Ken Kalthoff in Lancaster. Children and adults inside a daycare center there appeared safe but the building was heavily damaged.
A helicopter over South Dallas, Texas, catches a funnel cloud tearing through neighborhoods.
"People have stumbled out of their houses surprised they survived," Kalthoff reported.
Downtown Dallas was not in the eye of the funnel clouds, but the areas south of the city are also heavily populated.
"Considerable damage" was also reported near Cleburne, a city of 30,000 some 30 miles south of Fort Worth, the National Weather Service said.
The storms started near Cleburne, but most of the damage was to the north toward Dallas, city spokesman Charlie Hodges told msnbc.com.
Schools south of Dallas were locked down, NBC's Charles Hadlock reported, adding that one of the funnel clouds touched down in the town of Red Oak.
At least 29,000 customers lost power in the storms, which also dumped hail the size of golf balls across the area.
In Dallas County, the storm pushed cars into fences and toppled trees over. Branches and limbs were scattered across lawns and in the streets.
A tow-behind RV was torn apart and crumpled in a driveway where part of a roof of the home was torn off.
The massive Parks at Arlington mall along Interstate 20 shut down and management ordered shoppers and others into the basement, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Employees at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington were moved into the tunnels, the newspaper said.
Damage was reported at an Arlington apartment complex and a nursing home.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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