When tornadoes strike, warning sirens often stay silent
A Scripps News investigation finds many of the sirens that warn of tornado risks and other disasters are dangerously outdated.
LEARN MOREPosted: 8:21 a.m. EDT Jun 16, 2023
Three people have died after a tornado swept through the Texas panhandle on Thursday.
Perryton, Texas, fire officials say the tornado was on the ground for over a mile and was at least a quarter-mile wide. The fire department took a direct hit, but officials said their trucks and ambulances are drivable.
Perryton Fire said it received assistance from multiple states in the hours following the storm.
In addition to three deaths, officials reported 56 injuries as of late Thursday.
Photos posted by Perryton's fire department indicated the tornado hit a mobile home park.
The tornado was among six reported in the Southern Plains on Thursday. The storm dropped unconfirmed tornadoes in western Oklahoma before fizzling out over eastern Texas early Friday.
"A devastating tornado changed many lives there this evening and many homes and businesses destroyed. We are thinking about you all and praying for you," the National Weather Service's Amarillo, Texas, office said.
Survivors were thankful to make it out of the tornadoes.
"I'm just happy my brothers are alive," Victor Munoz told KVII. "I mean, I know all the property and everything accessories can be replaced, but alive, it can never be replaced and just being in the tornado thinking about it, like my brother worrying, crying, it would have killed me. It would have hurt me inside. I just, I don't know what I would have done."
Forecasters issued a tornado watch Thursday afternoon indicating conditions were favorable for tornadic weather. By early evening, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area.
Perryton has a population of about 8,000 residents and is located about 100 miles northeast of Amarillo.
