Tornado slams Colorado town; at least 19 injured

The upside-down floor of a mobile home is all that remains of a residence hit Monday by a tornado

ELLICOTT, Colorado -- Crews in eastern Colorado on Tuesday were searching for more victims of a tornado that struck the town of Ellicott, destroying mobile homes, severely damaging a couple of schools, causing power outages, sparking a propane leak and spurring evacuations.

Eighteen people were taken to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. One of those hurt was a 6-year-old who suffered a broken leg. At least person one was treated at Penrose Community Hospital in Colorado Springs.

Jeff Craig, El Paso County sheriff's office dispatcher, said a tornado touched down Monday at 7:10 p.m. local time in Ellicott -- a town 17 miles east of Colorado Springs. At least eight mobile homes were destroyed, other trailers were damaged and trees were uprooted.

The National Weather Service will determine later Tuesday the width and length of the tornado path and how much damage was caused from the tornado itself or from straight-line winds.

Craig said the storm ripped off the roof of Ellicott High School. A portion of the roof then struck a large propane tank, ripping off a valve and causing a gas leak. An elementary school also was damaged. Power outages were widespread.

A few dozen residents were evacuated to local churches, Craig said.

Fire departments and rescue crews throughout the region responded to the emergency. Government officials plan to assess damages through the day.

Trish Davidson said her mobile home was lifted from its foundation and that its roof was blown off. Davidson, her husband and four of their children had just returned from a holiday fishing outing and were cleaning up.

"We saw the dark clouds develop, then the strong winds, and then the hail, golf-ball size hail," she said. "We saw everything ease off for a little bit and then it started up again. We saw the clouds starting to swirl."

When the winds died down and the hail stopped, the family tried to leave the area. But the storm arrived as her husband opened the door.

"We just hit the floor in the living room and covered the kids and the tornado hit," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.