Texas tornado news: Shocking drone footage reveals scale of destruction in Perryton as victims named
Follow updates on the tornado which tore through small Texas town of Perryton
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Your support makes all the difference.An 11-year-old boy was among three people killed by the massive tornado which tore through a Texas Panhandle town on Thursday.
Becky Randall, a woman in her 60s, was found in a print shop, and Cindy Bransgrove, a woman also in her 60s, was discovered in a food bank, Ochiltree County Sheriff Terry Bouchard said.
The body of an 11-year-old boy, Matthew Ramirez, was found in a trailer park.
The twister hit Perryton, a town of around 8,000 people close to the Oklahoma border, on Thursday around 5pm local time and left a mile-long trail of destruction, the National Weather Service reported.
A mobile home park took a “direct hit” from the tornado, Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher said. In addition to the fatalities, up to 100 people are being treated for injuries ranging from minor to severe.
More than 200,000 customers were without power in Texas on Friday afternoon, according to utility tracker Poweroutage.us. In Ochiltree County, home to Perryton, 91 per cent of customers were cut off.
In a separate incident, one person died late on Thursday in the Florida Panhandle when a tornado ripped through Escambia County and downed a tree on a home, The Associated Press reported.
Dozens of homes destroyed
Footage posted on social media by local news stations revealed the devastating impact of the tornado which struck Perryton, Texas on Thursday.
More than 200 homes are estimated to be destroyed in the town along with the Perryton firehouse.
Pictured: Scenes of destruction in Perryton
Pictured: Scenes of destruction across small Texas town
Watch: The aftermath of the devastating tornado in Texas
More severe weather forecast across the US on Juneteenth holiday weekend
Heavy rain, flash flooding and severe thunderstorms rolled across large parts of the US on Friday.
The National Weather Service warned of downpours and stormy conditions over the Central Plains going into the Juneteenth holiday weekend, with risk of extreme rainfall and severe thunderstorms over parts of eastern Colorado and western Kansas.
A complex of storms was moving up through the Northeast impacting parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York on Friday afternoon, with wind and hail the main hazards.
Severe weather will continue across the Plains, Gulf Coast and the Deep South on Saturday with large hail, damaging gusts and an isolated tornado possible.
Strong cells could gather strength in the central Gulf Coast on Saturday afternoon, causing wind damage and hail in coastal Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle before moving offshore.
Record heat will continue to blanket southern Texas in the coming days with highs in the 100Fs-110Fs, a 15-25 degree anomaly for this time of year over that area, NWS noted.
The threat of fire outbreaks is high in southeastern Arizona and New Mexico this weekend due to very dry and windy conditions.
Another low pressure system moving through the Northeast and Canada’s coastal areas will push wildfire smoke from dozens of wildfires north of the US border over the Midwest, Great Lakes and interior Northeast this weekend.
When it comes to climate change and tornadoes, mysteries remain
Scientists are increasingly able to link global temperature rise to heatwaves, droughts, flash flooding and hurricanes.
But figuring out what impact a hotter world will have on tornadoes is more complicated.
The United States is uniquely suited to tornadoes and experiences more than any other country - an average of 800 each year. Most occur in the middle of the country over an area of the Great Plains dubbed “Tornado Alley”. Read more at the link below.
When it comes to climate change and tornadoes, mysteries remain
The United States experiences more tornadoes than any other country
Devastation in the Texas Panhandle
As Sabrina Devers watched what would turn out to be a deadly summer storm approach her ranch just north of the Texas Panhandle town Perryton, she first spotted golf ball-sized and then softball-sized hail.
Then, Devers said, across the high plains toward Perryton, the system spawned a tornado.
Once the twister had moved through, Devers drove into the town to find a path of wreckage local officials estimated was a quarter of a mile wide, and one mile long.
The Thursday afternoon storm would be blamed for three deaths and more than 100 injuries as it destroyed hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles into buildings and knocked out power and cellphone service in Perryton, a town of 8,000 about 115 miles northeast of Amarillo, just south of the Oklahoma line.
“The devastation was unbelievable,” Devers told Fox Weather. “It took a tanker truck and threw it into a pasture.” Read more at The Associated Press
Destruction in Texas Panhandle: Storm blamed for 3 deaths there wrecked mobile homes and main street
Cleanup efforts continued Friday after severe storms — including some that produced tornadoes — tore across a swath of Southern states, killing at least five people as they destroyed hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles into buildings and left hundreds of thousands without electricity. In Perryton in the Texas Panhandle, Ochiltree County Sheriff Terry Bouchard said three people were killed when the tornado struck Thursday afternoon. Another person died Thursday night in the Florida Panhandle when at least one confirmed tornado cut through Escambia County, toppling a tree onto a home. Also, a Mississippi man died after a tree fell on him during stormy weather early Friday.
Severe storms claim lives in other US states
Flash flooding also was reported in Pensacola where between 12 and 16 inches of rain has fallen since Thursday evening, said Caitlin Baldwin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Mobile in Pensacola.
In West Pensacola, flash floodwaters surrounded an apartment complex that was evacuated of all its 146 residents. Boats were used to remove some and take them to a local community center, said Davis Wood, public information officer for Escambia County Public Safety. No injuries were reported.
In Mississippi, a man died after a tree fell on him during stormy weather early on Friday. Canton Police Chief Otha Brown told WLBT-TV the man was killed after high winds toppled over a tree onto his carport as he was entering his car. The Associated Press
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