At least eight other people at a coal mine were injured when a tornado ripped through the large facility in northeastern Wyoming on Friday night, halting operations.
No deaths were reported, he said Saturday, and none of the injuries were life-threatening.
The tornado struck the North Antelope Rochelle (NARM) mine in Campbell County around 6 p. m. Friday, while the typhoon formula also spawned tornadoes in neighboring counties.
The National Weather Service in Rapid City, South Dakota, said Saturday morning that there was widespread lightning in northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota Friday night.
Severe storms continued to erupt eastward in South Dakota and Nebraska Friday night, resulting in reports of wind and hail, AccuWeather reported.
Friday night’s tornado damaged a cargo exercise and several cars when it hit the coal mining facility.
The Gillette News Record reported that 12 empty cars were overturned. The tornado hit the shift change at the mine and also overturned several buses that were there to transport workers, according to Campbell County public information officer Leslie Perkins.
Melissa Smith, a meteorologist and hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Rapid City, South Dakota, said the typhoon formula scattered tornadoes in Campbell, Natrona and Johnson counties.
Tornadoes in Wyoming and severe storms in Nebraska and South Dakota arrived here two days after a violent tornado brought hurricane-force winds to the North Texas city of Matador, killing four people.
Storm Matador spawned a mix of tornadoes, hurricane-force winds of over a hundred mph and giant hail.
Days earlier, Twister killed 3 other people and hospitalized over a hundred people in Perryton, Texas.
Forecasters have warned that intense tornadoes are forming along the edges of a giant heat dome that has settled over southern, central and eastern Texas, bringing incredibly high temperatures in the 110s and exaggerated heat warnings from the National Weather Service.
Collaborator: Associated Press