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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Rachel Sharp and Ariana Baio

Texas tornado news – update: State of emergency in Perryton after devastating tornado leaves three dead

AP
Texas tornado captured crossing through Perryton by locals

An 11-year-old boy was among the 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 quarter-mile 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 have been cut off.

In a separate incident, another person died late on Thursday in the Florida Panhandle when a tornado ripped through Escambia County and downed a tree onto a home, The Associated Press reported.

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