FOG BLOG TRAGEDY LOG: NORTH TEXAS TOWN OF PERRYTON FLATTENED BY TORNADO, MANY AS MAYBE 3!

Deadly tornado rips through North Texas town, leaves "utter devastation" A tornado tore through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday, killing three people, injuring dozens more and causing widespread damage as another in a series of fierce storms carved its way through Southern states.

In Florida, Escambia Fire Rescue confirmed a death in Pensacola due to a tree falling on a home, according to CBS Mobile, Alabama affiliate WKRG-TV.

The station reports "life-threatening" flash flooding in Pensacola and says rainfall could top 16 inches in some places.

Severe weather also hit many other parts of the Panhandle region overnight.

And elsewhere in the Lone Star State, CBS Tyler, Texas affiliate KYTX-TV's Jesus Martinez tweeted images from New Diana: Roughly 241,000 customers were without electricity in Texas as of 7:45 a.m. EDT, according to the Poweroutage.us website. Some 184,000 more had no power in Louisiana and 118,000 homes and businesses were doing without electricity in Mississippi.

The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado hit the Perryton area shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday. But there was no immediate word on its size or wind speeds, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said.

Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher said three people were killed, including at least one person who died in a mobile home park that took a "direct hit" from a tornado. Dutcher said at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed.

The Perryton Fire Department later asked that people "keep praying" for the city, saying it was "hit hard" and adding that the twister was on the ground for at least a mile and was a-quarter-mile wide.

What's more, "The Fire Department took a direct hit, our trucks and ambulances are driveable!" the department exclaimed.

The fire department in nearby Booker, Texas said Perryton had "3 confirmed deaths, 56 injured, and at least 2 missing. Many people are going to need a lot of help."