A deadly tornado caused significant damage as it tore through Matador, Texas, on June 21, 2023. (Credit: KFDA)

(CNN) -- At least three people were killed in a northwest Texas town after a tornado struck Wednesday, an official said, amid storms that battered parts of the western and central U.S. and sparked at least 11 reports of tornadoes in four states.

A tornado struck Wednesday night in Matador, a town of a few hundred people located about 280 kilometers northwest of Dallas, Texas, according to the National Weather Service office in Lubbock.

Matador Mayor Pat Smith said there had been three deaths. The death toll includes an elderly woman who died in her home, Mayor pro tempore Dvonna Grundy told CNN; Details on how many injuries were not immediately available.

The tornado destroyed Grundy's home — leaving her without clothes or medicine — and scattered or killed much of the cattle she had on her property, he said.

"It's completely gone," Grundy said of his home, adding that all of his chickens were gone and most of his cattle and horses were dead.

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This is the second time a deadly tornado has hit Texas in less than a week. On June 15, a tornado killed at least three people and injured dozens in the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton, about 180 miles north of Matador, authorities said.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, at least 11 tornadoes were recorded Wednesday in the western and central U.S., six of them in Colorado, three in Texas, one in Wyoming and one in Nebraska.

Residents of Texas and Oklahoma are also battling extreme temperatures this week — above 37.7 degrees Celsius in some areas — as hundreds of thousands of people remain without power following devastating storms.

More than 42 million people are under at least marginal risk of severe weather Thursday, including a stretch from Wyoming to Texas, as well as parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, the Storm Prediction Center said.

Storms with massive hail and power outages

Wednesday's storms battered parts of the western and central U.S. with large hail and hurricane-force winds, according to the forecast service.

On Wednesday, hailstones the size of a tennis ball, about 5 cm, were recorded in several cities in Colorado and Texas, including Matador. In Jayton, Texas, a 10-centimeter hailstorm was recorded.

Nearly 500,000 homes and businesses were without power overnight in Texas and Oklahoma, according to PowerOutage.us.

Early Thursday, more than 15 million people in the region, including those in Houston, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, were under watch for severe thunderstorms.

• Four alarming graphs showing how extreme the weather is right now

Texans Battle Heat and Severe Storms

Many Texans are facing a double streak of destructive storms and record-breaking temperatures this week.

Texas is one of the few southern states that have recorded temperatures of more than 37 degrees Celsius in recent days. On Wednesday, the South Texas cities of Laredo and McAllen recorded record temperatures of 45 and 41 degrees Celsius, respectively.

About 10 million people were under heat watches in South Texas and New Mexico early Thursday.

Some heat alerts are set to expire as conditions slowly improve Thursday night, providing some small respite.

However, the relief will be short-lived. Sweltering temperatures are expected to return on Sunday and last into next week.

-- CNN's Robert Shackelford contributed to this report.

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