A massive tornado in Wyoming and Nebraska left eight injured. The weather phenomenon struck Friday afternoon at the North Antelope Rochelle mine, injuring eight people who were in the middle of a shift change, county government spokeswoman Leslie Perkins said:
The National Weather Service had already alerted the county to the possibility of a tornado forming in the region as early as 9 p.m. local time. At that time, the agency announced, storms accompanied by tornadoes were expected to arrive not only in Campbell County, Wyo., but also in Natrona and Johnson Counties. In all of them, several storm chasers were able to capture images like these:
Tornado #15 for today NW of Minatare NE. It was on the ground 8 minutes. #newx @NWSCheyenne pic.twitter.com/JLWgMJzIvg
— Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) June 24, 2023
Scottsbluff madness!! ⛈️🌪️#newx @NWSCheyenne #tornado pic.twitter.com/FtvJCluLXZ
— Ryan Matoush (@RyanMatoushWX) June 24, 2023
tube near Minatare, Nebraska just now #newx with @jewelzann26 pic.twitter.com/qEoRLu9WMa
— Michael Marz (@MichaelMarz1) June 24, 2023
Wyoming mine suspends operations
However, the tornado arrived early and hit the mine around 6 p.m. local time, leaving not only the injured workers but also several overturned buses. The vehicles were in the area waiting to take workers home. Twelve other cars of a train, which was unoccupied, were also overturned.
Fortunately, only eight people were injured in the tornado, but the mine reported damage and had to close while it assessed the destruction. The mine operator, Peabody Energy Corporation, reported that activity at the facility had been halted until further notice. "Operations have been suspended until we can fully assess facility damages and begin the process of restarting safe operations," the company said in a statement.
The North Antelope Rochelle mine was not the only one affected by the tornado. As reported by the Campbell County Fire Department, another open-pit coal mine was also damaged by the weather phenomenon. It is located 64 miles south of Gillete, Wyo.
