Perryton, Texas Tornado: Tornado kills 3 and injures dozens in Texas Panhandle town.

CNN
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At least three people were killed and dozens were hospitalized The tornado tore through A tornado nearly leveled buildings and knocked out power in a Texas Panhandle city Thursday afternoon.

Two of the deaths happened in Perryton’s downtown business district, and one died in a trailer park on the city’s northeast side, Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota.

Storms were also sent Ochiltree General Hospital interim CEO Kelly Judice told CNN on Thursday that between 75 and 100 people had arrived at the hospital.

The injured had “head injuries, collapsed lungs, broken legs, major injuries — a little bit of everything,” Judis said.

Homes and businesses in the city of about 8,000 residents were damaged, including the local fire department and EMS and several mobile homes, according to Dutcher.

“Many of our trucks are pretty badly damaged,” the fire chief said.

In addition, according to Xcel Energy, the city’s electrical utilities have been shut down for safety purposes.

“Transmission lines that provide electricity to the city were damaged, and several low-voltage distribution lines were down in the city,” said Wes Reeves, spokesman for Xcel Energy.

“Xcel Energy employees are working to ensure the safety of Perryton residents and first responders. The estimated time for restoration is not yet available,” he added.

As of 3 a.m., more than 220,000 homes and businesses across Texas were in the dark. The monitoring website is Poweroutage.us. In neighboring Louisiana, more than 130,000 people were without power, and there were also outages in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has used state emergency resources to meet emergency life-saving needs in Perryton, Texas. A press release From his office.

“We are ready to quickly provide additional resources as needed during this severe weather event,” the governor said in the statement.

Resources from surrounding areas have poured into the city to provide much-needed assistance.

Authorities in Beaver County, Oklahoma dispatched fire, law enforcement and EMS units to assist, said Keith Shadden, the county’s emergency manager.

Authorities in neighboring Stinnett, Texas, also began sending officers and EMS crews. The sheriff’s office in Hutchinson County — which includes Stinnett — dispatched rescue and emergency operations following the “devastating tornado.” Facebook registration From the office.

Medical help also came from staff at nearby hospitals, who quickly helped up to 100 people after the hurricane hit, Judis said.

“Some of them took patients to their hospitals and most of the staff stayed and worked here,” he added.

On Thursday, there were two tornado reports in Texas, four in Oklahoma and one in Michigan, according to the National Weather Service, with the tornado in Perryton the most significant.

A tornado confirmed by the NWS, Cut out some key parts of the berry.

“It really hit residential, downtown and then industrial,” storm chaser Brian Emfinger told CNN.

The worst damage he saw was in the northwest part of town, where the tornado took its path directly toward a mobile home park, Emfinger explained.

“The storm formed a wall cloud very quickly, and that wall cloud tightened very quickly, and then it went to the ground very quickly,” Emfinger added.

In the northeast part of the city, about 300 people took shelter inside Perryton High School, an area that saw extensive damage, Cole Underwood, the school’s athletic director and football coach, told CNN.

“We have the gym space, and we have the skills to help people who have lost everything, and we’re willing to do that,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s no list of things. … You think you should be on hand, but people have lost everything today.

U.S. Rep. Ronnie Jackson, who represents Perryton, said the community needs help.

“If you are in the area, I urge you to do whatever you can to help your neighbors. Food, fuel, water, generators – you name it.