By Brad Brooks
LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) -The Texas panhandle town of Perryton was struck on Thursday by one or more tornadoes, causing fatalities, the mayor said, as images from the ground showed much of the town left in rubble by the twister and emergency crews searched for survivors.
Mayor Kerry Symons said the twister caused deaths in Perryton, which has a population of about 8,000, but he would not say how many fatalities until Friday morning.
“It’s bad, it’s very bad. It’s non-stop crazy. It couldn’t have hit in a more vulnerable place,” Symons said in a brief phone interview.
At least 30 trailer homes were damaged or destroyed in Perryton, ABC’s Amarillo affiliate KVII-TV reported, and firefighters were still rescuing victims at 6 p.m. It said the town may have been struck by three tornadoes.
Images from the ground in Perryton, about 110 miles (176 km) northeast of Amarillo, close to the Oklahoma state line, showed homes torn apart and left in rubble.”Jane & I are praying for the people of Perryton tonight. I am in contact with Mayor Symons and this tragedy is being closely monitored by myself and my whole staff,” U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson, a Republican from Texas, said on Twitter, referring to Perryton’s mayor.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks; Writing and additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Costas Pitas and Stephen Coates)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.