Severe Weather/tornadoes Plagues Plains; 2 Dead
Pastor Dale Morgan
Severe Weather/tornadoes Plagues Plains; 2 Dead*
Thursday March 29, 2007 5:01 AM
By KATHLEEN MILLER
Associated Press Writer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A major storm swept through the Rockies and onto
the Plains on Wednesday, dropping snow that caused highway pileups and
spawning tornadoes. At least two people died.
Weather watches and warnings stretched from South Dakota to Texas as the
storm marched east. The fatalities came in the Oklahoma Panhandle, after
a possible tornado tore through, authorities said.
``Apparently the tornado hit the home these two individuals were in,''
said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of
Emergency Management.
Tornadoes were reported throughout western Nebraska, and several farm
buildings were damaged, said Bill Myer of the Nebraska Emergency
Management Agency. He did not know how many tornadoes touched down.
The Plains storms also produced large hail.
In Wyoming, a school bus carrying 36 students from Tongue River High
School to a competition in Cheyenne in the state's southeast collided
with two minivans on snowy Interstate 90, school officials said.
Soon after, another pileup in the same area involved several passenger
vehicles and seven big rigs, two of which were hauling diesel fuel. One
of the diesel haulers rolled over and authorities said the other leaked
around 1,000 gallons of fuel.
Four people were taken to a hospital, and one injury was considered
serious, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Stephen
Townsend. It was not immediately clear which vehicles the injured had
been in, but no one on the bus was hurt.
The wintry weather closed a 100-mile stretch of I-90 and 45 miles of
I-25. Thirteen other state roads were closed.