A tornado tore through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday local time, killing three people, injuring dozens more and causing widespread damage as another series of fierce storms carved its way through Southern states.
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The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed a tornado hit the area shortly after 5pm Thursday. Local officials said Thursday night that two people were missing.
Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher said at least one person was killed in a mobile home park that took a “direct hit†from a tornado. Dutcher said at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed.
First responders from surrounding towns and cities and from neighbouring Oklahoma descended on the town, which is home to more than 8000 people and about 185 kilometres northeast of Amarillo, just south of the Oklahoma line.
Mobile homes were ripped apart and pickup trucks with shattered windshields were slammed against mounds of rubble in residential areas.
Perryton’s downtown also was walloped. About two blocks of businesses were heavily damaged, including an office supply store, a floral shop and a hair salon along the town’s Main St. A minivan was shoved into the outer wall of a theatre.
The Ochiltree County Sheriff’s Department said it would enforce a curfew from midnight to 6am Friday because of downed power lines and other dangers that might not be visible in the dark.
Nearly 50,000 customers were without electricity in Texas and Oklahoma, according to the poweroutage.us website.
Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton on Facebook said “Walking/wounded please go to the clinic. All others to the hospital ER.â€
“We have seen somewhere between 50 and 100 patients,†said Kelly Judice, the hospital’s interim CEO. Those include about 10 people in critical condition who were transferred to other hospitals.
Patients had minor to major trauma, ranging from “head injuries to collapsed lungs, lacerations, broken bonesâ€, she said.
The hospital also said an American Red Cross shelter had been set up at the Ochiltree County Expo Center.
Chris Samples of local radio station KXDJ-FM said the station was running on auxiliary power. ■