Drone video shows 'significant damage' moments after tornado rips through Texas town

03:43

Drone video shows scope of damage in Perryton, Texas

A tornado ripped through Perryton, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, destroying everything in its path. Storm chaser Brian Emfinger shows the damage from his drone. 

PERRYTON, Texas – Damage to homes and other buildings was seen Thursday just minutes after a tornado ripped through Perryton, Texas.

Drone video shot by storm chaser Brian Emfinger showed the path of destruction the twister took as it moved through the town located in the Texas Panhandle.

"There is so much damage and destruction," Emfinger said.

09:05

Storm chasers follow tornado ripping across Texas Panhandle

Storm chaser Nick Smego said he is one mile behind the tornado. FOX Weather determined that the tornado has been on the ground for about 20 minutes.

Emfinger said that he watched the tornado move over a mobile home park, destroying everything in its path.

"I had seen the tornado do some pretty serious destruction to the industrial part of town," he said. "Unfortunately, just west of there, there is just mobile home, after mobile home, after mobile home that is completely destroyed. There is significant damage." 

According to a report from KVII, the local fire chief said three people were killed and at least 75 were injured during the severe storms.

Witnesses reported storm victims being pulled from the rubble, and storm chasers were requesting ambulances respond to the town to help the injured.

11:13

Texas residents emerge from Tornado shelters to assess damage

Storm chaser Brian Emfinger brings us back to Perryton, Texas now that the tornado has cleared. Slowly residents are coming out from their shelters to assess the damage and offer help to those who need it.

Emfinger said the smell of gas was prevalent, and people were using their hands to dig through the debris.

His drone camera scanned the scene, and video showed the destroyed mobile homes and uprooted trees. A burning building could also be seen in the distance.

The National Weather Service in Amarillo told FOX Weather that the Perryton tornado was on the ground for approximately 8 miles before lifting. The team plans to survey the damage Friday and give the tornado an official rating. 

Thursday's tornadoes come as part of a multiday severe weather threat across the South and Southeast.

More than 21 million people from eastern Colorado and Kansas through the South and into the Florida Panhandle saw Severe Thunderstorm Warnings on Thursday.

The severe weather threat doesn't end Thursday, with more severe storms expected Friday in some of the same areas.

A tornado rips through Perryton, Texas, on June 15, 2023.

(Brian Emfinger/LSM / FOX Weather)