Perryton, Texas, residents are reemerging after a deadly tornado tore through the small town, destroying at least 200 homes.
The National Weather Service described the preliminary damage rating for the Perryton tornado as an EF2.
Three people died in Perryton.
According to Ochiltree County Sheriff Terry Bouchard, Randall, a 60-year-old woman, was found dead in a printing office; Cindy Bransgrove, also a 60-year-old, was found dead at a food bank; third was Matthew Ramirez, an 11-year-old boy who died at a trailer park.
Becky Randall is survived by two sons and four grandchildren who were “her world,” Randall’s son-in-law Randi Cunningham told ABC News.
“She loved life,” Cunningham explained, adding that Randall “found joy in everything” and always had a smile on her face and was laughing.
Randall grew up in Perryton, Cunningham said.
Cunningham loved Perryton and the people in the town of 8,200, and “they loved her.”
Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher estimated that the tornado path through Perryton near the Oklahoma state line was about 1.5 miles.
Dutcher revealed that 2 1/2 blocks of downtown were “completely wiped out.”
Authorities say at least 56 people were injured in Perryton, with injuries ranging from minor to serious.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Emergency Management to use state emergency response resources to meet the urgent needs in Perryton and issued a disaster declaration to support recovery from the extensive damage caused by the tornado.
More storms are forecast over the next several days.
Severe thunderstorms are forecast for eastern Virginia Friday (June 16) night.
The risk of severe weather also increased in Oklahoma on Saturday (June 17).
