Morgan County Sheriff Grateful Tornadoes Didn't Hit Memorial Day Weekend
MORGAN COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Tornadoes ripped through Colorado's Eastern Plains Saturday afternoon and CBS4's Melissa Garcia spoke with some people were affected by the twisters.
Garcia visited a campground at Empire Reservoir in Morgan County where a tornado sent trailers flying. It was a spot where one of three tornadoes touched down.
A tree fell right on top of the campground owner's house and a tornado sent some campers flying into the water. It also flipped Zina Hawkins' trailer over onto its side.
"Spirits are up, and we all realize how fortunate we are because we don't live in these, we can still go home," Hawkins said.
One family huddled inside their camper when the twister hit, but suffered only minor injuries. It's a relief Morgan County Sheriff Jim Crone says is thanks to the timing.
"We're fortunate that had this been Memorial Day weekend I'm concerned that we would have had some serious injuries and maybe some fatalities," Crone said.
Just a few miles away across the Weld County border another tornado brought down a utility pole and pulled trees up from their roots.
"It was a sound like you've never heard before," said Sara Bevan, whose home was hit by a tornado.
Bevan took cover inside her home when the tornado came tearing through her property.
"We did have that moment of silence where you're kind of waiting for the next phase to hit, and it did hit," she said.
It ripped off part of her home's roof, and destroyed two barns. One was full of cars, and the other full of animals.
"I'm glad that it missed the house. Otherwise I would have a barn and no house. So I guess if I had to have it one way or another, I'm glad I have a house," Bevan said.
Stormchaser Spencer Park chased the tornado down Interstate 76.
"Very windy, people were stopping on the side of the road because you couldn't see. The road was covered with hail like it just snowed two inches," Park said. "It was very dark, that's for sure."
Crone says there were a lot of people out on the roads who could have been hit by debris. He says take it as a lesson that when a tornado warning is issued, take it seriously and take cover.