Latest news with #ElkhornRanch
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Four tornadoes confirmed east of Denver on Sunday afternoon
At least two powerful EF2 tornadoes touched down east of the Denver Metro Area last weekend At least two powerful EF2 tornadoes touched down east of the Denver Metro Area last weekend At least two powerful EF2 tornadoes touched down east of the Denver Metro Area last weekend The weather turned dangerous Sunday afternoon just east of the Denver metro area, where four tornadoes touched down between 1 and 2 p.m. Three of the four were rated EF2, and one was an EF1. Two of the EF2 tornadoes tracked near Bennett and Elkhorn Ranch, producing estimated winds up to 125 mph. Incredibly, the two tornadoes near Bennett were on the ground simultaneously, from 1:40 to 1:46 p.m. Damage surveys were conducted on Monday. Here are the preliminary reports: Elkhorn Ranch Tornado (NW Elbert County) This tornado formed around 1:07 p.m. and was classified as a strong landspout, which is uncommon for this area. It caused damage near the Elkhorn neighborhood before dissipating five minutes later. Rating: EF2 Winds: Estimated 125 mph Path: 0.94 miles Width: 50 yards No injuries or fatalities Greg Torfin's home in Elbert County was damaged by a tornado. CBS Manila Road Tornado (Arapahoe County) The second tornado touched down south of Manila Village and tracked northeast. This one was tied to a more organized supercell. Rating: EF1 Winds: Estimated 95 mph Path: 2.53 miles Width: 75 yards No injuries or fatalities Tornado in Bennett capturedd on traffic camera along I-70 Colorado Department of Transportation Bennett Tornado #1 (Arapahoe to Adams County) This was the most significant tornado of the day, with a long 5-mile path just west and north of Bennett. Rating: EF2 Winds: Estimated 125 mph Path: 5.09 miles Width: 200 yards No injuries or fatalities A tornado in Adams County on Sunday. Cory Samaniego Lee Bennett Tornado #2 (Northeast of Town) A second tornado formed while the first was still on the ground, overlapping in time but not location. It was the widest of the four, with a path stretching over 4.5 miles. Rating: EF2 Winds: Estimated 112 mph Path: 4.62 miles Width: 400 yards No injuries or fatalities A tornado that struck Colorado on Sunday. Vickki Katchen
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Tornado tears through Elkhorn Ranch in Elbert County: ‘Where do you start?'
ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Families in the Elkhorn Ranch subdivision are cleaning up after a powerful tornado ripped through the neighborhood late Sunday night, leaving behind extensive damage but no injuries. Just hours before FOX31 arrived on scene, Elbert County officials issued a disaster declaration for the area. Homes were left shredded, roofs torn away, and debris scattered for blocks. Elbert County declares local emergency after May 18 tornado 'We spent a large part of yesterday and even this morning just trying to figure out, where do you start? What do you do next?' said Adam Dormuth, a homeowner whose property was hit hard by the storm. Dormuth's workshop was destroyed, several windows were blown out, air conditioning units were tossed by the wind, and his home will likely need a new roof. He described the damage as a mix of structural and cosmetic. Despite the widespread destruction, no injuries have been reported. 'You know, a lot of mixed emotions,' Dormuth said. 'We feel very fortunate. I'm thrilled my family is okay. I still can't believe — out of all the houses that were ripped through — no injuries were reported.' As insurance adjusters and contractors begin to assess the damage, many residents are simply trying to stay busy and make sense of what's next. 'You walk through the field, you pick up little pieces of wood, siding, things like that,' Dormuth said. 'You pick up stuff that doesn't really matter, but you know it needs to be picked up to try and keep yourself busy.' Photos: Tornado damage in Adams, Arapahoe counties seen from the sky Still, amidst the chaos, the neighborhood has rallied together. 'Neighbors have been great,' he said. 'They've been coming by. Everyone is chipping in. They are offering tractors and trucks … neighbors have started meals, food.' Elbert County officials are urging anyone impacted to report damage and utilize county recovery resources. Cleanup is expected to continue for several days as the community begins the long road to recovery. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Epoch Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
The Gentleman Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands, 1883–1888
On Feb. 12, 1884, while serving in the state legislature in Albany, Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) received a telegram from New York City that his wife, Alice, who was living in his mother's house, had delivered their first baby. He had already arranged to return home later that day when a second telegram brought news of the precarious state of Alice's health. Rushing back to Manhattan, he found Alice semiconscious and dying from Bright's disease and his mother, Mittie, stricken with typhoid fever. Both women died within hours of each other on Valentine's Day. Though devastated by this double catastrophe, Roosevelt hid his innermost feelings from others, sitting stone-faced during the funeral service while so many around him were weeping. His diary, however, reveals the true state of his heart and mind. Though normally effusive, on this occasion he could only He struggled through a session of the legislature and the 'Mako Sica' Theodore Roosevelt during a visit to the Badlands of Dakota in 1885, after the death of his first wife. Photo by T.W. Ingersoll. MPI/Getty Images Long before the coming of white explorers, the Lakota people had called this territory ' As Americans pushed westward, the Dakotas became one of the battlefields with Native Americans, particularly the Sioux. In the late 1870s, with those conflicts coming to an end and, with the arrival of the railroads, cattle, and ranching became a focal point of the territory. In tandem with these developments, newspaper reports and the pulp fiction of the day were romanticizing cowboys and the Western life, attracting wealthy Easterners who purchased cattle and bought up vast tracks of land throughout the West, giving themselves an air of the exotic among their peers. During these same years, living up to its name in a different way, the Badlands was a haven for outlaws and rough men, where disputes were often settled by gunplay rather than by a court of law. Related Stories 2/23/2025 3/23/2023 It was to this unruly land that Roosevelt traveled in 1883 to hunt buffalo. The Badlands Helped Make America's Parklands Roosevelt's trip west changed both the man and the history of the United States. Rather than being put off by the craggy landscape and harsh climate, Roosevelt fell in love with the Badlands. He had made this journey in part to acquire a taste of the cowboy life, and the Dakotas gave him exactly what he was looking for. Impulsively, he made a large investment in the Maltese Cross Ranch, and a year later, following the deaths of his wife and mother, he moved to the Badlands and purchased more land and more cattle, establishing what he called the Elkhorn Ranch. Despite his relative youth and inexperience, Roosevelt played a key role in the establishment of the On the Fourth of July, 1886, Roosevelt also revealed the views of America he would later carry into the White House. He delivered his first major public address, now known as his 'Big Things' A lone buffalo in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Western North Dakota. Roosevelt originally came to North Dakota in1883 to hunt buffalo. Laima Swanson /Shutterstock Roosevelt's Dakota years and his subsequent trips there eventually had vast ramifications for the rest of the country. As president, the hunter was also a conservationist. He helped rescue the buffalo, which were on the edge of extinction, and sought to preserve the American wilderness and forests by establishing some 230 million acres of parkland around the country. This ' President Theodore Roosevelt (L) poses with naturalist and botanist John Muir on Glacier Point in Yosemite, California. MPI/Getty Images Yet the knowledge he gained, especially those lessons absorbed during his early infatuation with the Badlands, would influence the history of the country in another way—or so Roosevelt believed. In a 1918 letter of appreciation to Professor Albert T. Volwiler, who had described those North Dakota years in an article, Roosevelt When East Met West Life in the Badlands shaped Roosevelt in a multitude of ways. Still in his 20s during these years, he was young enough to be molded by the challenges of this place and its people. Concerned about his physical health since boyhood, he had fought off life-threatening asthma attacks, and, with the encouragement of his father, he had focused on physical well-being and exercise. His years in the American West pushed him even further in the direction of strength and fortitude. The cowboys and other ranch hands whom he supervised later testified to his abilities to endure the weather, to ride long hours in the saddle, to exert himself when they themselves were flagging from fatigue and hunger. For the first time in his life, he was doing truly hard work alongside hard men. Moreover, those men were radically different from Roosevelt's friends and companions back East. Privately schooled, a graduate of Harvard, a member of New York's elite, and a budding politician, his company now consisted of a rougher crew. Their companionship enlarged his sympathies for the working class. Other tests of manhood also came Roosevelt's way. In one incident, for example, a drunken and armed cowboy in a bar began to The Stolen Boat (L–R) Wilmot Dow, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Sewall at Elkhorn Ranch, circa 1886. Public Domain The incident most revealing of Roosevelt's character and which gained the widest attention among locals occurred in March, 1886. Three thieves Three days later, they caught up with the surprised crooks, who were surprised again when their captors did not execute them on the spot. Roosevelt was an outspoken advocate for law in this territory, and so insisted they take the men to a sheriff for justice. For several more days, they battled the ice-cold weather, wet clothes, and lack of provisions before finally delivering the men to the sheriff in Dickinson, who was also surprised that the thieves were brought to justice rather than being shot out of hand. These sorts of conflicts along with the daily trials of frontier living helped create the man who would become a police commissioner of New York City, the leader of the Rough Riders in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and a strong and vigorous American president. From the Badlands to the Arena Roosevelt's plans to become a Western rancher were short-lived. The Yet those few years in the Badlands remained a large and vivid part of his life. Perhaps Roosevelt was thinking of his time as a cowboy when, two years after leaving the White House, he spoke at the Sorbonne, an address originally titled 'Citizenship in a Republic,' which we know today as his ' A warrior both in Cuba and in the rough-and-tumble politics of his time, Roosevelt had become a man of the arena whose training ground was the North Dakota Badlands. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, 1898, by B.J. Falk. Library of Congress. Public Domain What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to
