Shortly after 5:00 pm on Thursday, June 15th, a tornado touched down one mile north of Perryton.
The tornado tore through the town, causing extensive damage to the area, injuring over 50 people, and killing three people.
According to Xcel Energy, the tornado has caused nearly 4,500 outages.
First Responders from all over the Texas panhandle have traveled to Perryton to offer aid and resources.
In Gray County, Pampa and the surrounding towns have been recovering from the hailstorms that occurred earlier this week. Many of the local roofing, insurance, and auto shop businesses have been working around the clock to attend to their customer’s needs.
In the face of dealing with the damage produced from this week’s storms, the Gray County community continues to band together to send aid to Perryton.
After hearing of the tornado striking Perryton, members of the First Methodist Church of Pampa got in contact with Perryton’s local authorities and decided to gather donations of supplies to deliver to the town.
Kelley Smith, the Administrative Secretary for First Methodist Church, described the moment when she and her husband, Tad Smith, a Youth Pastor and Varsity Football Coach for Pampa High School, heard about the tornado.
“We were at the store when we learned about the tornado hitting Perryton,” Smith said. “We talked and decided that we would take the church trailer and start gathering supplies.”
Word rapidly spread on social media about the First Methodist Church and Pampa High School gathering donations to deliver to Perryton.
“We put a call out and we never dreamed that it would get this big,” Smith said.
On Friday morning, citizens throughout the community stopped by the church to donate water, non-perishable food, and other supplies. As well, Pampa ISD has offered to help gather donations at Valhalla.
“Tad called up Coach Rob and he offered to set up the football team’s trailer at the church,” Smith said. “They’re wanting to take a group of football players to Perryton on Saturday to help out.”
Smith expressed her gratitude for all the support the community has provided to help aid Perryton.
“In times like this, the community comes together to help one another and love each other,” Smith said.
