Tornados, storms lash US
2008-05-23 14:45
Windsor - Residents of a devastated neighbourhood grabbed what they could from their debris-strewn homes before police imposed an overnight curfew on Thursday after a tornado swept through northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring 13.
The twister skipped through several towns in Weld County, damaging or destroying dozens of homes, businesses, dairies and farms. The storm system pelted the region with golf-ball-size hail, swept vehicles off roads and tipped 15 rail cars off the tracks in Windsor, a farm town about 112km north of Denver.
Governor Bill Ritter toured the area and declared a local state of emergency, but an inventory of damaged homes had to wait until daylight Friday. Federal, state and local officials were assembling damage assessment teams overnight.
Severe storms, some including tornadoes, also ripped through parts of Wyoming, Kansas and California on Thursday.
The large storm cloud descended nearly without warning, touching down near Platteville, about 80km north of Denver. Over the next hour, it moved northwest past several towns along a 56km-long track and into Wyoming.
100 deaths so far this year
Jim Kalina, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said two or three major storm cells affected the area and officials were trying to confirm how many tornados touched down.
Weld County is known as a prolific tornado spawning ground, with about seven typically reported there each year, according to the weather service.
About 100 people have died in US twisters so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, according to the weather service, and the danger has not passed yet. Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall.
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- AP