Three dead, dozens hurt as tornado devastates Texas town in US
According to a witness, the tornado passed through a mobile home park, mutilated trailers and uprooted trees.
Three people were killed and dozens injured as a tornado swept through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton in the United States.
The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado hit the area Thursday afternoon. But there was no direct word on its size or wind speeds, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said.
Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told reporters three people died in the storm. He said at least one person died at a mobile home park that took a “direct hit” from a tornado.
Dutcher said at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed and firefighters were rescuing people from the rubble.
First responders from surrounding areas and from Oklahoma descended on the city, which is home to more than 8,000 people.
Storm chaser Brian Emfinger told Fox Weather he saw the twister move through a mobile home park, mutilating trailers and uprooting trees.
“I had seen the tornado pretty much destroy the industrial part of the city,” he said. “Unfortunately, just west of there, mobile home after mobile home after mobile home that has been completely destroyed. There is significant damage.”
According to the website poweroutage.us, nearly 50,000 customers were without electricity in Texas and Oklahoma.
Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton said on Facebook: “Walking/injured, please go to clinic. Everyone else to the hospital’s ER.’
The hospital also said an American Red Cross shelter had been set up at the Ochiltree County Expo Center.
“We were beaten down” by patients, said Kelly Judice, the hospital’s interim CEO. “We’ve seen somewhere between 50 and 100 patients,” Judice said, including about 10 in critical condition who were transferred to other hospitals.
Patients had minor to major trauma ranging from “head injuries to collapsed lungs, lacerations, broken bones,” she said.
Chris Samples of local radio station KXDJ-FM said the station was running on auxiliary power. “The whole city is without power,” he said.
By evening, the weather front moved southeast through Oklahoma.
The weather service said a second set of storms would continue to move through that state and parts of Texas throughout the evening, while the risk of severe weather, including tornadoes, remained for the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.