A tornado tore through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday, killing three people, injuring dozens and causing widespread damage as another in a series of fierce storms tore through southern states.
Local firefighters estimated that nearly 200 homes in Perryton were damaged or destroyed by the tornado.
Mobile homes were smashed and trucks with broken windshields were smashed into piles of debris in residential areas.
Downtown Perryton was walled off. About two blocks of businesses were badly damaged, including an office supply store, a flower shop and a hair salon along the town’s main street. A minivan was pushed into the outer wall of a theater.
Among the dead was 11-year-old Matthew Ramirez. The other two victims were identified as Cindy Bransgrove and Becky Randall, who were killed at a print shop owned by Randall.
David Erickson / AP
Víctor Muñoz, who filmed the tornado just before it hit his home, remained on Friday picking up the debris from the damaged house.
“The debris was like hail, it just hit and hit and … everything just broke,” Munoz told CBS News.
He walked out of the tornado with his two brothers in the bathroom, praying that their mother would come home alive.
“I was worried about my mom,” Munoz said. “I couldn’t get my truck out or anything. And once I saw her alive, I gave her a big-ass hug. She was crying, I’m glad she was alive.”
The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that the tornado touched down in the Perryton area shortly after 5pm on Thursday.
With a few hours of daylight left after the storm passed, broken windows were being boarded up.
Perryton Fire Department asked that people “continue to pray” for the city, saying it was “hit hard” and adding that the bend was on the ground for at least a mile and was a quarter of a mile wide.
Also, “The Fire Department took a direct hit, our trucks and ambulances are drivable!” exclaimed the department.
Alex Driggars, a reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, posted the footage on social media that showed the destruction at Perryton City Hall and the city’s fire station.
First officials from surrounding towns and cities and from neighboring Oklahoma descended on the city, which is home to more than 8,000 people and is about 115 miles northeast of Amarillo, just south of the Oklahoma line . CBS Amarillo, Texas affiliate KFDA-TV said several agencies throughout the Texas Panhandle responded to assist Perryton.
Storm chaser Brian Emfinger told Fox Weather he saw the tornado move through a mobile home park, tearing apart trailers and uprooting trees.
“I had seen the tornado do some pretty serious destruction in the industrial part of town,” he said. “Unfortunately, west of there, it’s just mobile home, after mobile home, after mobile home that’s completely destroyed. There’s significant damage.”
Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton said on Facebook: “Walking/injured please go to clinic. All others to hospital A&E.”
The hospital also said an American Red Cross shelter had been set up at the Ochiltree County Fairgrounds.
“We were overwhelmed” with patients, said Kelly Judice, the hospital’s interim CEO.
“We’ve seen 50 to 100 patients,” Judice said, including about 10 in critical condition who were transferred to other hospitals.
The patients had minor or major trauma, ranging from “head injuries to collapsed lungs, lacerations, broken bones,” he said.
David Erickson / AP
Chris Samples of local radio station KXDJ-FM said the station was running on auxiliary power.
“The whole city is without power,” he said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he had ordered the state Division of Emergency Management to help with everything from traffic control to restoring water and other utilities, if needed.
Elsewhere in the Lone Star State, Tyler, Texas CBS affiliate KYTX-TV’s Jesus Martinez tweeted images of New Diana:
STORM DAMAGE: These photos are from New Diana, TX: Derek Johnson sent us these photos. He says about 5-6 live oaks (60-80 feet tall) uprooted on his property. pic.twitter.com/8A4qk3akV6
— Jesus Martinez CBS19 (@jmarttv) June 16, 2023
The storms were part of an outbreak of severe weather that hit the South this week.
In Pensacola, Florida, more than 200 people were rescued Thursday after flash floods stranded them at an apartment complex.
Escambia Fire Rescue confirmed one death in Pensacola from a tree that fell on a home, according to CBS Mobile, Alabama affiliate WKRG-TV.
In Mississippi, a man died after a tree fell on him during stormy weather early Friday. Canton Police Chief Otha Brown told WLBT-TV that the man died after high winds knocked a tree down in the parking lot as he was getting into his car.
More than 182,000 customers were still without power in Texas as of Friday evening, according to the utility tracker PowerOutage.us. About 142,000 more were without power in Louisiana, and 95,000 homes and businesses were without power in Mississippi.
Also in Texas and southern states, including Louisiana, heat advisories were in effect Friday and were expected through the Juneteenth holiday weekend with temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was expected to be 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
