3 dead, dozens injured after tornadoes hit US city

HOUSTON -- At least three people were killed and dozens of others injured Thursday after multiple tornadoes battered Perryton, a small city in south central US state Texas, local authorities said.

At least one person was killed in a mobile home park that took a "direct hit" from a strong tornado, Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told reporters. Two people were killed in the downtown business district.

Kelly Judice, the interim CEO of the Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton, said the hospital has received 50 to 100 patients with about 10 of them in critical condition who were later transferred to other hospitals.

The tornadoes swept an area as long as 1 to 1.5 miles (about 1.6 to 2.4 km) and may have destroyed about 200 homes across the city, Dutcher said.

Most of the missing were believed to have been accounted for as of Thursday night, said the fire chief.

Storm chaser Brian Emfinger told CNN that Thursday's tornadoes cut through some of the main sections of Perryton and residents had little time to prepare. "It literally hit the residential, the downtown and then the industrial as well."

Electric company Xcel Energy said Perryton was without power after the tornadoes as facilities have been de-energized for safety purposes.

"Transmission lines supplying the city with electricity have sustained damage and many lower voltage distribution lines are down in the city. An estimated time of restoration is not yet available," the company said in a statement.

The city has opened an emergency shelter at the gym and is deploying emergency response resources to "meet urgent life-safety needs," Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office said in a press release.

As of the 2020 US census, there were about 8,500 people living in Perryton, which is located in northern Texas near the Oklahoma border.