Holly, Colo. – The beep-beep-beep of heavy equipment rang out across piles of debris and wrecked houses today as residents began cleaning up after a powerful tornado swept through town, killing a 28-year-old mother.
“Come back in a year. You won’t believe it,” said Mayor Tom Crum, who was overseeing a bulldozer that was demolishing his heavily damaged home.
The tornado struck Wednesday night, snapping trees and lifting houses off their foundations with winds estimated at up to 200 mph.
State emergency officials said 35 homes were destroyed and 32 were heavily damaged in Holly, a the town of 1,000 people about 235 miles southeast of Denver and six miles from the Kansas border.
Rosemary Rosales, 28, died of massive injuries after the tornado threw her from her home into a tree. Her 3-year-old daughter, Noelia, and husband, Gustavo Puga, were among seven people who were hospitalized.
Gustavo Puga Jr., the couple’s 7-year-old son, was staying with his grandparents and was not injured.
Cleanup work began almost immediately, and dump trucks had hauled 250 loads to a landfill by 6 p.m. Thursday, said Chris Sorensen, a spokesman for the emergency response team.
The fleet of trucks – some owned by Prowers County and others from private contractors – was back at work today.
Under sunny skies, residents shoveled debris and sawed up fallen trees while utility crews replaced power and telephone poles. A Red Cross truck circulated through the town, offering coffee to the workers.
LeeAnna Murray, a Holly native who now lives in Raton, N.M., rushed back after hearing about the tornado. She helped cook and serve meals from a catering wagon Thursday night.
“Holly is home,” she said.
Hovering around the wagon or inside a nearby store, residents laughed or teared up while talking over burgers and beers.
Curt Rushton, part-owner of the catering company, said all the food had been donated. He said he would be back to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner “until we get caught up.” Gov. Bill Ritter visited Holly on Thursday and said federal agencies were assessing the damage and the town’s needs.
“We’re going to do everything we can to help the people of this town,” Ritter said. “They had just rolled up their sleeves and began the hard work.” Sixty-five tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. At least four people died, including one each in Colorado and Texas and two in Oklahoma.
Paul Wolyn, science operations officer for the National Weather Service in Pueblo, said a severe thunderstorm warning for the area had expired about 15 minutes before the tornado hit. The weather service issued a tornado warning at 7:57 p.m. Wednesday, “after we first heard of the tornado hitting,” Wolyn said.
“We obviously will review the case to improve our forecasts,” he said.
The weather service previously had said it had issued a tornado warning at 8:02 p.m. and that the twister was spotted nine minutes later.
