Witnesses said a UPS truck landed on its hood after a tornado touched down near Byers Friday afternoon.
The UPS driver was taken to the hospital, but did not suffer major injuries, according to Colorado State Patrol.
The confirmed tornado also damaged the roof of a home near County Road 181 and County 38 in Byers.
Neighbors said they didn’t realize the tornado was more than just a storm until after it hit.
“It just looked like a regular thunderstorm. We’ve been getting them the last week, two weeks,” said Allen Haskin, a resident of the area. “So it wasn’t anything significant, anything special. It just came in and it was gone as quick as it came in.”
Allen Haskin’s mother, Brenda Haskin, passed by the upended UPS truck.
“I was coming home from work, I was on 181 and turned on our road and saw the UPS [truck] up on its nose and debris out in the field,” she said.
The National Weather Service says it will survey the area Saturday to confirm exactly what happened and determine the strength of the tornado.
That twister was one of three tornadoes to touch down east of the Denver metro area. Two of the twisters were in Arapahoe County, according to Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Julie Brooks.
The other was near Ponderosa Par in Elbert County. A 9NEWS viewer spotted a funnel cloud there.
A tornado watch was issued for 14 counties in Colorado on Friday afternoon that extended well into the evening.
Severe weather also caused hail and heavy rain in spots.
by Allison Sylte (2018, July 27) 9News
