A tornado that tore through the town of Perryton in the Texas Panhandle has killed at least three people and injured dozens more.
The National Weather Service said the tornado hit after 5 p.m. on Thursday as storms moved through the South. It directly hit one mobile home park in Perryton, which is just south of the Oklahoma border.
Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told the Associated Press that at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed in that neighborhood, and overall, 150 to 200 homes were destroyed throughout the town.
Videos from storm chasers, residents and journalists also showed widespread damage throughout the town of about 8,000 people. In the downtown area, some buildings had collapsed or partially collapsed.
Resident Jamie James told CNN that they had rain with some hail before the tornado appeared seemingly “out of nowhere.”
“And all a sudden the tornado formed and it just dropped on us. It came out of nowhere and there was no sirens, no time to get to shelter,” she said. “There was a time where I thought that I was going to die...”
The AP reported that about 10 people taken to the hospital were in critical condition.
Injuries ranged from head wounds to collapsed lungs to broken bones, Kelly Judice, the interim CEO at Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton, told the AP. She added that the hospital treated between 50 and 100 patients.
An American Red Cross shelter was set up at the Ochiltree County Expo Center, and Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed emergency response resources.
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