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Colorado storms escalate into devastating

tornadoes and hailstorms

No serious injuries as parts of state put on tornado and flood advisories


Police cruiser drove into 15ft-deep sinkhole during heavy rains in
Denver
Alvin Allmendinger talks on the phone next to the half-gutted home of his
brother-in-law in Berthoud, Colorado. Photograph: Brennan Linsley/AP
Violent storms across Colorado have swirled into tornadoes that destroyed
homes, popped open a sinkhole that swallowed a police cruiser and dropped
so much hail on a Denver neighborhood that residents had to dig out of waistdeep ice with shovels.
Forecasters warned Friday that more severe weather and flooding was on the
way.
The National Weather Service placed the eastern half of the state under a
tornado watch and posted flood advisories in the north.
No serious injuries have been reported from the storms that raked areas from
Fort Collins in the north to Pueblo, nearly 180 miles south.
As lightning flickered from horizon to horizon and heavy rain pelted Denver
overnight, sergeant Greg Miller of the Sheridan police department drove his
SUV into a 15ft-deep, 20ft-wide sinkhole that he couldnt see on a suburban
street.
Miller crawled through a window and to the vehicles roof, then up to the
pavement.
Im glad it happened to me and to no one else, Miller, who wasnt hurt, told
Denvers KMGH-TV. A crane pulled the cruiser out Friday afternoon.

In one Denver neighborhood, residents came outside to find 3ft-deep piles of


hail. The marbles of ice blanketed the street like snow, and crews used bucketloaders to clear the road.
In Berthoud, about 40 miles north of Denver, Alvin Allmendinger and family
scrambled to the basement just before a tornado stripped off the roof.
They stayed an hour, hail rolling down the stairs and rain seeping through the
floorboards above.
Brandon Scott, Allmendingers son-in-law, said hail stones piled up about 2in
deep on the basement steps.
Were all alive, and thats what matters, Allmendinger said, standing atop
the rubble of the home under ominous skies.
At least three homes were destroyed in Berthoud. Crews repaired downed
power lines and police set up road checkpoints throughout the area.
People who have lived here 50 years had never seen weather like that before,
said Luke Koldewyn of Johnstown, whose parents modular home was
destroyed. He found a family dog, Luna, trapped, but fine, in the rubble.
The black Lab didnt want to be free, he said. She was scared to move.
Tornadoes damaged at least six homes near Simla, on Colorados eastern
plains, Elbert County officials said. A new twister touched down Friday
afternoon but lifted off before causing damage, the National Weather Service
said.
More than 7in of rain hit parts of the Rocky Mountain foothills, which
experienced devastating flooding in 2013. In the town of Lyons, a 3ft-wide
torrent of brown water rushed across Tamara Vega Haddads yard Friday. It
carried heavy flagstone blocks from her terraced front yard and dropped them
60 feet away, across a cul-de-sac.
Water also got into her basement, but she shrugged it off. I thought, We
dont have to evacuate, my kids dont have to go to another school, she said.

Big disasters give you a big perspective, she said, alluding to the destruction
two years ago.
Rivers in northern Colorado, meanwhile, are running high from melting snow
and an unusually rainy spring, increasing the flood risk there.
The storms that began overnight were the result of the El Nino phenomenon
in the Pacific Ocean, an upper-level jet stream and a low-pressure system
parked over southern California. The factors have combined to deliver
moisture this week from the Gulf of Mexico into Colorado and southern
Wyoming.
Flash floods swept through the eastern Wyoming town of Lusk before dawn
Thursday, wiping out a bridge on the major road through the community of
about 1,500 people. Engineers were considering whether to put up a
temporary span Friday.
The storm system should push into Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma early
next week, National Weather Service meteorologist Kari Bowen said.

Summary
On June 5, 2015, Storms raced across Colorado, including tornadoes, heavy
rains, and plenty of hail. A sergeant officer drove his SUV into a 15-ft deep
and 20-ft wide sink hole caused by the intense downpour. Later that Friday
there would be more flooding. Some Denver residents came outside to find
3ft deep piles of hail that they had to clear up using buckets. North of
Denver, the Allmendinger ran to their basement right before a tornado tore
off their roof. The storm was going to move on to Nebraska, Kansas and
Oklahoma City the following week.
"Colorado Storms Escalate into Devastating Tornadoes and Hailstorms." The
Guardian. N.p., 5 June 2015. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/05/colorado-stormstornado-hailstorms>.

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