North Texas has been abused over the last few days by severe thunderstorms, but the most impressive of these occurred Tuesday night.  With winds blowing at up to 80 mph, Tuesday's storms left more than half-a-million people without power and an estimated $100 million in damage — almost all of which was caused by the extreme winds.

At least three deaths (two in Texas and one in Oklahoma) have been attributed to the storms.

We lost power Tuesday evening around 9:30 PM and didn't get it back until Wednesday afternoon around 4 PM.  With temperatures in the 90s and relative humidity levels above 50%, you can imagine how miserable it was.  I have a friend who lives only five minutes from me who was still without power late Wednesday evening.  TXU Electric has stated that nearly a quarter of a million people are still without power and it may take several more days to get them turned back on.

When I left the house Wednesday morning, all of the traffic lights were out (not blinking; just off) and there was debris everywhere.  Some streets were entirely blocked by fallen trees and/or limbs while others were obstacle courses due to the large amount of debris.

I had to drive about eight miles away just to find a gas station that had power.

With flooding, hail, damaging winds, a few tornadoes and lightning and thunder that never stopped, the storms were an impressive display of what Mother Nature can do when she puts her mind to it.

You can view some photos of the damage thanks to WFAA-TV, our local ABC affiliate, by looking here and here.