By ROCHELLE HINES
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — A tornado as wide as two football fields carved a devastating path through an eastern Colorado town as a massive spring storm swept across the central U.S., killing at least three people in two states.
An Oklahoma couple died when their home was blown to pieces late Wednesday, and another woman died after the Colorado twister hit.
The massive storm system stretched from South Dakota to Texas on Thursday morning, threatening flash flooding in central Nebraska and Kansas and more severe weather farther south. Winter storm warnings were still posted for most of Wyoming, where heavy snow was blamed for pileups on the interstates, forecasters said.
Some of the worst devastation was in Holly, Colorado, where at least eight people were injured when the tornado hit late Wednesday, damaging dozens of homes and littering the streets with broken power lines, tree limbs and debris.
A 28-year-old woman whose home was hit in the Holly area died after being airlifted to a Colorado Springs hospital, Prowers County Coroner Joe Giadone said Thursday.
At least 11 tornadoes were reported throughout western Nebraska, destroying or damaging three homes and 10-12 miles (16 -19 kilometers) of power lines, emergency management officials said. Two tornadoes touched down in far northwest Kansas, severely damaging three homes, the Cheyenne County sheriff’s department said.
Near Elmwood, Oklahoma, a husband and wife were killed when the storm blew apart their home, said Dixie Parker, Beaver County’s emergency management director.
The Texas Panhandle was hit with hail, rain and tornadoes that uprooted trees, overturned trucks and injured at least three people. One tornado was on the ground at Caprock Canyons State Park for about 20 minutes, the National Weather Service said.
The same storm system dumped snow on Wyoming, causing traffic accidents and closing highways Wednesday, officials said.