Gas leaks keep hundreds from homes after tornado
Published 10:29 pm Friday, May 23, 2008
WINDSOR, Colo. — Stormy weather, natural gas leaks and the threat of explosions kept hundreds of anxious residents from assessing the damage to their homes on Friday, a day after a large tornado tore through a 35-mile stretch of northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring dozens.
The twister damaged or destroyed homes, businesses, dairies and farms in several Weld County towns Thursday. 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 70 miles north of Denver.
Police and more than 100 National Guard troops cordoned off a particularly hard-hit area of about one square mile on Friday so utility crews could check each home for gas leaks, repair gas mains severed by uprooted trees, remove downed power lines and clear streets of shattered glass and debris.
It might take a day or more to secure the area, said Bill Easterling, commander of the emergency response team.
“I think at this point it’s pretty much hit me,” said a dejected Cindy Miller, a 46-year-old high school teacher. “I’m not going home for a while.”
Before being ordered out Thursday, Miller found a wall to her house torn apart and insulation, glass, water and debris everywhere. Wooden planks had penetrated a bathroom wall, and her trampoline was in a neighbor’s yard.
There were 596 homes damaged, with 102 deemed unsafe to occupy, when the tornado bounced along a 35-mile-long swath.
