A powerful storm hits the United States. and power cuts to hundreds of thousands of residents

A powerful storm has hit the US states of Texas and Louisiana, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of residents and canceling hundreds of flights to and from the Dallas area.

Winds of more than 112 km/h were reported in Texas, where a tornado warning was issued in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

National Weather Service teams planned to go Friday to survey areas for potential damage in the storm's path, which stretched from southeast Oklahoma to neighboring Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The weather service wrote on the social networking site "Twitter": "If your phone is alerted and sirens are heard, it means that the wind speed is as strong as a weak hurricane. So treat it as such! Go in and stay away from the windows."

The Dallas suburb of Richardson asked residents to stop using water after the storm knocked out power to pumping stations.

Richardson officials said in a statement: "Water is currently in the city's water storage facilities, but it will run out if all customers do not immediately stop using the water, except for emergency needs only."

In northern Dallas, winds toppled trees, toppled the roof of a grocery store and overturned four trailers on U.S. Highway 75. Police said only minor injuries were reported.