Things were nasty Thursday in parts of nation's heartland.

A line of severe thunderstorms, possible tornadoes and even snow hit that area, flooding nearly 200 roads in Missouri, closing schools in Arkansas and ripping the roofs of dozens of houses in Texas.

The band of storms stretched from Colorado and Nebraska, which is expected to get up to 10 inches of snow. Some 125,000 customers in Texas were reported without power. Some could remain without power until Saturday.

In Missouri, 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in just a few hours, unleashing flash floods that swamped parts of 180 roads across the state.

Flights at Little Rock National Airport in Arkansas were suspended for just less than an hour due to a tornado warning. An airport spokesman said between 300 and 400 people were moved to safe places away from windows.

The heavy rain caused the Mississippi River to swell and the Army Corps of Engineers plans to open a spillway north of New Orleans for the first time in 11 years to ease the pressure on levees and spare the area from flooding.

Friday's planned opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, about 30 miles above New Orleans, will mark only the ninth time its been opened since its completion in 1931.

Apparent Tornado Hits Texas, Okla.

An apparent tornado with winds of up to 70 mph moved through San Angelo, Texas, early Thursday morning.

The storm hit just after midnight, ripping shingles from roofs, shattering glass and flipping vehicles.

Paramedics were dispatched throughout the West Texas city, but police didn't immediately have any information on injuries.

Hours earlier, two apparent tornadoes also moved through another section of West Texas.

In north Texas, severe storms with 80-mph wind gusts whipped through the area early Thursday, leaving a trail of damage and cutting power to about 160,000 homes, including about 29,000 in Dallas, the city's KXAS-TV reported.

North Texans were reporting roof damage, uprooted trees and downed power lines across the Metroplex and North Texas.

Some of the worst damage includes large trees that have fallen on cars in Watauga and roofs that have blown off of several Lillian homes in Johnson County.

Airplanes near Addison Airport were shuffled, and a convenient store sustained storm damage.

Red Cross shelters were opened in the Wintergreen area of DeSoto, where several homes were reported damaged and one-third of residents were without power at 6 a.m. A shelter was also opened in Lillian.

In Lancaster, 911 service was down as of 6 a.m.

There also were reports of a tornado in Oklahoma.

At least one person died in storms there, a woman whose car skidded off the road in heavy rain.

Storm chasers reported that a tornado touched down briefly near Abilene, Texas, in a storm that produced hail the size of baseballs.

In Breckenridge, west of Dallas, at least five homes were destroyed.

Some minor injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, a small tornado caused scattered damage in southwest Michigan.