WRIGHT, Wyo. – Residents had just five minutes warning before a tornado (search) tore into a mobile home park, killing two people and injuring about a dozen others. Dozens of homes were destroyed.
One person was still listed as missing Saturday, police said.
The twister touched down Friday afternoon in this coal-mining town of 1,500 people.
It was on the ground an estimated 10 to 15 minutes, destroying 40 to 50 mobile homes, scattering metal siding, insulation, home furnishings and debris throughout the town.
"I've seen this stuff on TV, but I've never seen it in real life," Campbell County Undersheriff Scott Matheny said Saturday morning. "It's just total devastation of homes. There's just nothing left. There are some homes that weren't even touched, but there's camper trailers turned upside down, and there's property and valuables strewn everywhere."
Residents had about five minutes warning, said Jeff Rech, assistant chief of the Campbell County (search) Fire Department.
"The warning was going off just as it hit from what I understand," said Sheriff Bill Pownall.
"I talked to one couple and they can remember flying through the air and screaming at each other," said Dianna Riley, nursing supervisor at Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette. "And then they woke up."
One person was found dead at the scene and a second died at the hospital, Pownall said. Two people were in fair condition at the hospital, and five others had been treated and released, officials said. A few others were treated at the scene.
Matheny said there were 183 mobile homes in the park. A nearby elementary school was damaged, the sheriff said.
Wright is about 100 miles northeast of Casper (search) in northeastern Wyoming.
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