Family Huddles In Basement Bathroom As Tornado Destroys Their Home

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WRAY, Colo. (CBS4) - Cleanup is underway after several tornadoes touched down on Colorado's Eastern Plains Saturday afternoon.

CBS4's Melissa Garcia was first on the scene when a tornado touched down Saturday night. On Sunday she traveled back to the town of Wray in northeastern Colorado take a closer look at the damage.

The damage to the house north of Wray (credit: CBS)

Six people were inside a home north of Wray when a tornado touched down. They all ran downstairs to take cover. The family huddled in a small basement bathroom for safety. It was about the only part of the Yuma County home that wasn't damaged when the tornado hit.

Family and friends came to clean up debris on Sunday.

"We came over here last night after the tornado hit, and terrible. It's terrible," neighbor Brianna Egloff said.

The tornado north of Wray (credit: CBS)

Brianna Egloff and her sister Jamie saw the funnel forming over their house.

"It was behind the building, and I thought it was going to reach our house," Jamie Egloff said.

"It started off as a little toothpick, and then it started getting bigger and bigger, and it started getting really wide," witness Evelyn Ivarie said.

The National Weather Service estimates the EF2 twister at a quarter-mile wide. Surveyors say it traveled almost three miles, tearing up everything in its path.

The damage to the house north of Wray (credit: CBS)

It crossed into Bob Sitzman's ranch.

"This morning when we first walked down here, this looked like a junk yard," Sitzman said. "When we got here, there's a mile and a half of fence that's gone."

Just across Highway 385, the twister leveled a repair shop, destroying almost everything on the property. But the people out there cleaning up on Sunday say they're grateful that nobody was killed.