Man Watched Tornado 'Devour Neighbor's House'
BERTHOUD, Colo. (CBS4) - A tornado on Thursday night in Larimer County tore into more than a dozen homes, destroying three.
The tornado touched down at 6:30 p.m. in an unincorporated part of the county, southwest of the town of Berthoud. The National Weather Service report on the twister doesn't state how long the tornado stayed on the ground. There was also a touchdown by a tornado, possibly the same one, just south of the area in Boulder County.
There are no reports of injuries.
"All the residents of those homes has been accounted for," Berthoud Fire Chief Steve Charles said. "It's absolutely incredible that (everyone) survived. It's a miracle."
The twister flipped cars over, took out bridges, knocked down trees, damaged boats and agricultural equipment, shattered windows and caused widespread power outages. Some roads were also closed Friday morning due to flooding in the area.
VIDEO: Copter4 Flies Over Tornado Damage In Larimer County
Emergency officials say in addition to the three homes that are a total loss, there are 12 homes that are damaged. A damage assessment was taking place on Friday.
PHOTO GALLERY: Tornado Damages Homes Near Berthoud
Don Grabosky told CBS4 he saw the tornado coming directly at his neighborhood.
"I watched it coming toward me. I was standing right there on the front porch. My wife came out, she told me get the hell in the house because it was going to tear everything to pieces," he said. "But I just kept staring at it. And as it moved it devoured my neighbor's house. Just ate it."
The tornado turned north after that and Grabosky's home wasn't damaged.
"The residents I've talked to say it was very frightening for them -- the high winds, a lot of hail and a lot of debris flying through the air," Chief Charles told CBS4 Friday morning in an interview by phone on the CBS4 Morning News. "At the house I'm at right now we have vehicles that are overturned, the roof is gone, and I'd say a third of the house is totally collapsed."
An evacuation center is open at the Berthoud Community Center at 248 Welch Avenue for people whose homes are uninhabitable.
Several homes in Elbert County were also damaged by what the National Weather Service says were two different tornadoes.
Additional Resources
Officials in Larimer County released the following information on Friday about the storm.
Search and Rescue and damage assessments continue this morning. If residents have damages due to storms last night, please contact either 2-1-1 by phone until 5pm today, or go to the Assessor's Office website at larimer.org/assessor/flood/. Additionally, the American Red Cross is activated for Client Work. The Red Cross can assist with the assessment of personal needs and referrals to programs and can be reached at (303) 235-6636. A Berthoud Disaster Fund has been established at HelpColoradoNow.org.
