At Least 4 Dead After 'Unprecedented Tornado' Strikes Small Texas Town

The damage occurred in the town of Matador, where “everybody knows everybody,” said one official

A powerful tornado struck the small Texas town of Matador on Wednesday evening, killing at least four people and injuring ten others, according to local authorities.

“The Town of Matador has experienced an unprecedented tornado bringing damaging winds to the town,” the Lubbock Fire Rescue posted on Twitter. “There are four confirmed fatalities & ten total injuries. Seven of which were transported by EMS and three by personal vehicle.”

Matador Mayor Pat Smith told CBS News that the tornado destroyed about ten structures in the town of about 570 people – located 70 miles northeast of Lubbock in Motley County – noting crews were carrying away bodies and digging people out of the rubble.

The small town is one where “everybody knows everybody,” Brandon Moore, a volunteer firefighter as well as Matador’s water superintendent, told the Associated Press.

The twister was part of multiple severe storms that brought large hail, strong winds, and flash flooding to parts of western and central Texas.

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David Payne, a meteorologist for local CBS affiliate KWTV, said the damage “looks like EF4 damage to me,” per the outlet. An EF4 is the second-highest rating on a five-point scale for tornado intensity, causing winds up to 200 mph.

A tornado was officially confirmed by the Lubbock office of the weather service, which reported the news just after 8 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, soft-ball sized hail rained from the sky with winds reaching 100 mph in nearby communities, including Jayton. Additionally, there were widespread power outages in the region.

Matt Ziebell, senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Lubbock, said a supercell developed near Amarillo around 8 p.m. on Wednesday before the winds started, per the AP.

“[It's] certainly rare to see all at the same time, killer tornadoes, hurricane-force winds, and softball-sized hail,” Zeibell said, adding that it “was definitely a rare combination of high-end wind shear and storms of extreme instability.”

Related: 3 Dead After 'Erratic' Tornado Hits Oklahoma and Causes 'Significant' Damage to College Campus

Police, fire, and EMS from across the South Plains joined forces to help with search and rescue efforts. At the same time, state resources arrived at the scene to begin post-disaster operations, such as damage assessment and final recovery efforts.

“We want to make sure no one was passing through town; that was our concern,” said Public Safety Sgt. Johnny Bures. “That’s what we’re really double-checking for.”

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Photos and videos on social media showed overturned vehicles, debris scattered across roads, and multiple damaged or destroyed buildings.

This was the second time a deadly tornado struck Texas in less than a week. Three people died, and dozens more were injured in the Texas Panhandle city of Perryton, about 180 miles north of Matador, on June 15, as PEOPLE previously reported.

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