Tornado causes damage in Perryton, Texas
A tornado ripped through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday, killing at least three people, injuring more than 75 more and causing widespread damage as another in a series of fierce storms carved its way through the South.
The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado hit the area Thursday afternoon. But there was no immediate word on its size, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said. “There are still reports of ongoing rescues,” he said.
Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told NBC News three people were killed and between 75 to 100 were taken to local hospitals in various conditions.
Among the areas struck by the tornado was a trailer park that took a "direct hit," Dutcher said. At least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed. At 6 p.m., firefighters were rescuing people from the rubble inside the park.
The tornado also left two blocks of the downtown business district completely destroyed, Dutcher added.
First responders from surrounding areas and from Oklahoma descended on the town.
Storm chaser Brian Emfinger told Fox Weather that he watched the twister move through a mobile home park, mangling trailers and uprooting trees.
“I had seen the tornado do some pretty serious destruction to the industrial part of town,” he said. “Unfortunately, just west of there, there is just mobile home, after mobile home, after mobile home that is completely destroyed. There is significant damage.”
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.”
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 that according to hospital officials at least 100 people went to the emergency room. The station was running on auxiliary power.
“The whole city is out of power,” he said.
By evening, the weather front was moving southeast across Oklahoma. The weather service said a second round of storms would continue to move through that state and parts of Texas through the evening while the risk of severe weather, including tornados, remained for the metropolitan Oklahoma City area.
The storm system also brought hail and possible tornados to northwestern Ohio.
A barn was smashed and trees toppled in Sandusky County, Ohio, and power lines were downed in northern Toledo, leaving thousands without power. The weather service reported “a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado” over Bellevue and storms showing “signs of rotation” in other areas.
Source: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
