8 injured after tornado strikes coal mining site in Wyoming
At least eight people at a coal mining site were injured when a tornado tore through the massive facility in northeast Wyoming Friday night, halting operations.
No deaths were reported, officials said Saturday, and none of the injuries were life threatening.
The tornado hit the North Antelope Rochelle Mine (NARM) in Campbell County around 6 p.m. Friday as the storm system also spawned tornadoes in neighboring counties.
The National Weather Service in nearby Rapid City, South Dakota, said Saturday morning there was widespread lightning across northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota throughout Friday night.
The severe storms continued to erupt eastward into South Dakota and Nebraska Friday evening, resulting in numerous wind and hail reports, AccuWeather reported.
Tornado damage near Gillette, Wyoming
Friday night's tornado caused damage to a freight train and several vehicles when it hit the coal mining facility.
The Gillette News Record reported that 12 empty train cars were knocked over. The tornado hit during shift change at the mine and also flipped over multiple buses that were there to transport workers, according to Leslie Perkins, Campbell County public information officer.
Melissa Smith, a meteorologist and hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Rapid City, South Dakota, said the storm system scattered tornadoes throughout Campbell, Natrona and Johnson counties.
Tornadoes pummel central US, Texas in recent days
The tornadoes in Wyoming and severe storms in Nebraska and South Dakota came two days after a vicious tornado brought hurricane-force winds to the north Texas town of Matador, killing four people.
The Matador storm caused an unusual combination of tornadoes, hurricane-force winds topping 100 mph and large hail.
Just days earlier, another tornado killed three and hospitalized more than 100 people in Perryton, Texas.
Meteorologists have warned the intense tornadoes are forming along the edges of a gigantic heat dome that has settled over south, central and east Texas, bringing extremely hot temperatures in the 110s, and excessive heat warnings from the National Weather Service.
Contributing: Associated Press