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LUBBOCK, Texas — A line of severe storms produced multiple tornadoes Wednesday evening on the Rolling Plains of West Texas, including one that killed at least three people and caused significant damage around the Matador community.
The storms also produced softball-size hail and wind gusts topping 100 mph in other communities including Jayton, which also was under a tornado warning as the line moved southeast after the sun set Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service in Lubbock.
There were widespread power outages across the Rolling Plains, including more than 700 customers without power in the Jayton area, according to South Plains Electric Cooperative. But the worst of the damage appeared to be in the Motley County community of Matador – a town of about 570 people 70 miles northeast of Lubbock.
Matador’s Mayor confirmed at least three people were dead after the storm, according to the Associated Press, which cited the New York Times and Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Wednesday’s tornado outbreak came six days after a confirmed EF-3 tornado left three people dead and more than 100 injured in Perryton in the northern Texas Panhandle.
In a message at 8:08 p.m., the National Weather Service in Lubbock reported that law enforcement confirmed a tornado located just north of Matador in what was a tornado-warned storm in Motley County.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., William Iwasko, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Lubbock, said there had been three confirmed tornadoes in the line of storms, but it appeared the one in Matador was the only one that caused significant damage.
Reports from storm chasers and meteorologists on social media showed considerable damage around Matador, with damaged homes, utility lines, trees and infrastructure.
Lubbock Fire Rescue confirmed to the Avalanche-Journal that it was sending a crew to assist with the damage and recovery.
“I gave the order for Heavy Rescue 1 to respond to the town of Matador to assist in freeing trapped residents from collapsed structures,” LFR Chief Shaun Fogerson said in a message. “This was in response to a request from TDEM and the Director of Emergency Management in Matador. Deputy Chief Nick Wilson is responding and will direct our crews.”
University Medical Center in Lubbock confirmed it was sending its AMBUS mobile medical unit to Matador Wednesday evening.
Just before 9 p.m., Wednesday a new tornado warning was issued for Dickens and King counties through 10 p.m. as the line of storms continued traveling southeast, according to a statement from the weather service on Twitter.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation. A confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado!,” reads the statement from the weather service.
As the storm moved south from Matador, the weather service confirmed a tornado was on the ground northeast of the Afton community and moving southeast at 20 mph. The line of storms was also prompting severe weather warnings, with reports of baseball-size hail and winds upward of 70 mph.
The Weather Service in Lubbock continued issuing warnings as the line of storms moved south into the Big County.
As the storm moved near Jayton, the Weather Service issued a tornado warning for eastern Kent and western Stonewall counties, with large hail and a confirmed wind gust of 100 mph in the Jayton area, according to the weather service.
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