Tornado Outbreak Leaves 4 Dead

At Least 65 Reported In Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska; More Could Be On The Way

(CBS/AP)  "I just heard something like a train, a huge vacuum cleaner-type train suction sound and I just sat down and figured it was the last day of my life," Holly, Colo., resident Stella Bates told CBS News.

A powerful spring storm unleashed dozens of tornadoes over the past two days in the central Plains states, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.

A tornado near Oklahoma City left two people in critical condition, damaged a dozen homes, knocked down high voltage power lines and pushed vehicles off the highway like toys.

Joyce Eels said she can live with the fact that a tornado took off most of the roof of her home — she's just thankful to be alive.

"All the important things are OK," she said Thursday. "My husband and family are OK. That's the important stuff."

Tornadoes or high winds are believed to have killed at least four people in three states, including a woman who was flung into a tree by a twister that witnesses said was as wide as two football fields.

At least 65 tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska by late Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

"This will go down as the third biggest outbreak of March tornadoes ever seen," says CBS News meteorologist George Cullen. "Ironically, the worst March outbreak occurred just last year when 73 touched down on the 20th and 21st of the month."

The outbreak might not be over, however.

"Today's threat will be found from Texas into Oklahoma and Arkansas, while the rest of the Plains will be dealing with major flooding issues, as another 3-5 inches of rain is likely to fall from midday today into the later part of Saturday," warns Cullen.

In Oklahoma, a 7-year-old girl was treated at a hospital for cuts, and two people were injured when a van was thrown from the Kilpatrick Turnpike into a concrete culvert, said Oklahoma City Deputy Fire Chief Tony Young.

Vance and Barbra Woodbury were killed Wednesday when a twister blew apart their home near the Panhandle community of Elmwood.

"We set off the tornado sirens, but they live too far out to hear them," said Dixie Parker, Beaver County's emergency management director. "The house was just flattened, the out buildings are gone. All that's left is debris."

In Colorado, Rosemary Rosales, 28, died after being found critically injured in a tree after a huge tornado destroyed several homes and damaged dozens of others in Holly, a town of 1,000 people about 235 miles southeast of Denver near the Kansas line.

"All they heard was this big ugly noise, and they didn't have no time to run," said Victoria Rosales, the victim's sister.

"It's numbing, it's just numbing, there are just so many things that you see that in and of itself if you just saw it standing alone, would be startling, it would be stunning but after a while if you walk through it you become sort of numbed by it," said Gov. Bill Ritter as he toured Holly (left).

In the Texas Panhandle, Monte Ford, 53, was killed when he was thrown from his trailer after high winds caused it to roll. Storms moving across the northern part of the state brought up to 7 inches of rain in areas and led to numerous high-water rescues on flooded roads.

Tornadoes uprooted trees, overturned trucks and injured at least three people in the Panhandle. The region also got baseball-sized hail.

On Thursday, flooding plagued parts of the state, with traffic accidents and high-water rescues reported.

Oklahomans were bracing for more severe weather, as watches and warnings continued.

"We're probably about 50 tornados ahead of the usual point where we are this year, Warren Faidley, an extreme weather journalist who has been chasing storms for 20 years, said on CBS News' The Early Show. "And of course, unfortunately this year, too, the number of fatalities, we've already reached the average. The three-year average for tornado fatalities is 46 and I think we're approaching 50 now ,unfortunately, so that's a very unusual statistic this early in the season."

Faidley isn't sure whether global warming is a factor, but told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith it could be.

"The earth is getting warmer. There's no doubt about that. The statistics show that no matter who you listen to. And of course storms love heat. Heat is energy to storms," Faidley said.

"It will be interesting to see what happens in April and May when the tornado season peaks."

The same storm system dumped snow on Wyoming, causing highway pileups and closing large portions of three interstates. In the Wind River Mountains, 58 inches of snow had fallen by Thursday morning.

At least 800 homes in north-central Wyoming were without heat and electricity Thursday, down from about 2,200 the day before.

[dlpracer]

Aaa Bee,

Just like most GW alarmist, you and your ilk (CBS and Harry Smith, Algore) are playing on normal weather events to whip up the uninitiated and uninformed.

Tornados are a way of life this time of year and have been for centuries. I find it strange that someone at CBS worth their journalistic salt would not do one iota of research to recall the Super Outbreak of April 3, 1974 that killed 315, and injured 5000 people. Here is the tornado count by severity: F5 6, F4 23, F3 35, F2 30, F1 31, F0 23. All in one day.

By the way, that was during the media's global COOLING frenzy. And one other fact. Tornados are produced when opposing air masses collide. The more extreme difference in masses, the more extreme the results. GW is the warming of the caps, therefore less extreme cold fronts from those regions, thus less extreme events....get it??

Try something else to spread GW fear...this one won't work.

Dave

[randalds]

It's just Oklahoma. I mean I lived there for a year and a half and I'll be damned if I can figure out why=y ANYONE stays there! Sure there are a lot of good people, but there are also a majority of small town redneck racists and as*sholes. The KKK is still very popular there (It was hinted at to me that I should join until I told them I had a Jewish wife and was raised Catholic (though they were willing to over look that second part)). Then there's the terrible weather! Hot, dry and dusty in the summer and ice storms all winter long, with tornadoes the rest of the time. Then of course every August and September it's over run with bugs the size of small cars! It's a good place to pass through, but don't stay there long.

[mainemade]

Don't upset Mother Nature....She gets very, very angry!

[aaabee-2009]

cntrygrllst,

Your creditials in any of the environmental sciences that give you special insight in global warming?

Barring that, any documentation verifying your future-telling capabilities that allow you to see what global warming will or will not affect?

Barring that, some indication that you have read the research for and against global warming and made your decision based on which elements of the arguement?

Or are you just leveraging your right to free speech, to issue uninformed opinions, and think no harm done?

You and others making claims against global warming usually haven't read the material and make your predictions on the weather patterns across the scope of your short lives. The science behind global warming has been pulled from Arctic to Anarctic and from weather across centuries.

No harm done? You and other uninformed dissentors keep the world mired in indecision and slow, if indeed not stop, people from taking preventative actions that may not be available to your kids and grandkids when their lives are endangered by global warming.

At the very least you are slowing, if indeed not stopping, folks from taking actions that could be used to reduce todays pollution issues.

Are you just personally against making any kind of life change that might help the world in general or is improving the world from any angle repugnant to you?

Just. Curious.

[cntrygrllst]

This is SPRING tornados have been hitting this part of the country during this time of year, forever and NOW people want to put some silly label on it, Get over it.... it is called MOTHER NATURE.

[vancouverboo]

Action on global warming has to wait until the last stubborn politican finally admits it's real, but by then it will be too late to do anything, the lag time shall have passed.