North Texas tornado smashes drilling rig, injures three
A tornado left damage and injuries after it hit a gas
drilling rig in the Texas panhandle Wednesday night.
Hemphill County Sheriff's Office confirmed the tornado
touched down just north of Canadian, Texas. Police reported structural damage
as well as injuries. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were hurt.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. According
to Christi Francis, Chief Executive Officer for Hemphill County Hospital, at
least three three people with serious injuries were brought to the county
hospital. It wasn’t clear if the patients were workers at the rig.
According to weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen,
there were at least four separate reported tornadoes north and west of Canadian
Wednesday. The area was under a tornado
watch at the time.
There were also reports of large hail.