Albuquerque – Andrea McLaren awoke Saturday to find that a stretch of the eastern New Mexico city she calls home was obliterated – a tornado had flattened houses, snapped telephone poles and heaved a trailer through a bowling alley.
“Pretty much everything was pushed together like toy cars,” McLaren said by telephone from Clovis, near the New Mexico- Texas border. “We’ve been picking up debris the whole day. … Clean up and assess the damage, that’s all we can do.”
A day after at least 13 tornadoes wrecked homes and injured several people, two of them critically, residents along the New Mexico-Texas border began a cleanup officials say could take months.
The worst damage was reported in Clovis and the village of Logan, about 80 miles to the north, state officials said.
The Clovis twister touched down shortly before 8 p.m. Friday, forecasters said. On Saturday, city officials described a narrow path of destruction about three miles long. About 100 homes and businesses were either lost or damaged, and at least three schools were damaged, police said.
Hospitals in Clovis treated 35 victims, including two critically injured, state emergency management spokeswoman Carrie Moritomo said Saturday. One of the critically hurt was taken to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, for treatment.
In Logan, a twister hit a trailer park, leaving two people hospitalized, Moritomo said. Many other injuries were reported, but they were minor.
BOULDER
Woman had 2 kids with another teen
A Louisville woman accused of having two children fathered by a teenager had two other babies by another minor, court documents show.
Irene Marie Gomez, 38, faces a charge of sexual assault on a child stemming from police allegations that the father of her two youngest children – now 1 and 4 – was 13 and 16 when they were conceived.
According to a restraining order filed by Gomez in 2000, her older children, now ages 7 and 10, were fathered by another man who was 14 when the first was conceived and 17 when the second was conceived, the Daily Camera reported in Saturday’s editions.
Louisville and Lafayette police did not return calls on whether Gomez was being investigated for additional charges regarding the older children.
AURORA
Shot carjack suspect arrested, treated
A carjacking suspect wrecked a stolen car in Aurora on Friday night after his victim shot him in the head.
Denver police apprehended the man with the help of a police dog after he fled from the scene of the wreck, near South Havana Street and East Kentucky Avenue.
The Police Department released no details about the name of the suspect or the 24-year-old person whose car was stolen.
Police arrested the suspect, who was taken to The Medical Center of Aurora for treatment, said Denver police spokeswoman Virginia Quiñones.
She said police still were trying to determine whether the suspect and the victim, both of whom were armed with guns, knew each other.
The carjacking began in the 9800 block of East Girard Avenue. Police said the victim shot the carjacker in the back of the head. The victim left the car and was able to call police from a nearby gas station.
The carjacker continued northbound in the southbound lane of Havana Street, eventually crashing the car into another vehicle.
Quiñones said rescuers had to cut five people out of that car. All were taken to Aurora Medical Center as a precationary measure, she said.
BRECKENRIDGE
Firefighters seek house to burn down
Summit County firefighters are looking for a volunteer: someone who will donate their home.
They need to burn down a house for practice. Usually someone volunteers a structure every year, but so far no one has stepped forward.
Capt. Paul Kuhn, director of the High Country Training Center, said a homeowner who plans to destroy a structure can save money because there will be only a third as much debris to haul away.
LARIMER COUNTY
Crack found at home with 2-year-old
A drug task force in Larimer County on Friday seized $50,000 worth of crack cocaine from a Fort Collins home where a 2-year-old child was found.
Authorities also found $10,000 in cash at the residence of Justin Andrews, 24, located at 3000 Eagle Drive. Authorities arrested Andrews.
The 2-year-old child authorities found at the home was turned over to a family member after intervention from the Larimer County Child Protection Team.
GYPSUM
Three teens charged with having alcohol
Three Gypsum teens have been charged with illegal possession of alcohol after a friend was killed.
Sixteen-year-old Joseph Creek, a Red Canyon High School student, was hit and killed by an ambulance Oct. 25. Creek was legally drunk and the driver was not charged.
Eagle County sheriff’s officials suspect Creek and three other teens had been drinking vodka obtained for them by an unidentified adult before the accident.
The other teens – a 17-year-old girl and two boys, 15 and 16 – were charged with possessing alcohol though they were under the age of 21. They each could receive $250 fines and be forced to do public service, attend alcohol education classes and get treatment.
