Nearly 100 people attending a planned concert Wednesday evening at the Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver were injured after being pelted with large hail during severe storms that moved across the area, the West Metro Fire Department said.
At least seven people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said in a tweet. Up to 90 people were treated on scene and injuries included cuts and broken bones.
Bella Oliveira said she was almost trampled as she and others ran from the falling hail. “I managed to hide where they were selling drinks and I used my backpack to protect myself and another girl,” she said, adding that she hurt her head and shoulder during the incident.
“Tonight was the scariest night of my life,” Twitter user Nicole wrote in a tweet sharing a video on the storm. “It started pelting people with hail at Red Rocks and my sister and I luckily found shelter under a sign. I am bleeding and have huge bumps on my head from the hail. Hoping everyone made it out safely.”
The National Weather Service office in Boulder first issued a severe thunderstorm warning around 9:04 pm which included the amphitheater. The weather service warned the storm was capable of producing winds up to 50 mph and golf-ball-sized hail.
As the storm approached, the weather service office tweeted this alert, even tagging the amphitheater that dangerous weather was imminent.
Earlier in the day, the Boulder weather service office warned that “We are still in the ‘loaded gun’ scenario of having tremendous instability,” which could lead to severe weather throughout the evening.
The Storm Prediction Center warned of a level 2 out of 5 “slight risk” of severe weather for Red Rocks and a level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” for the nearby Denver area.
The forecast said the area could experience damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes throughout the afternoon extending into the overnight hours. Six tornadoes were also reported across Colorado on Wednesday evening.
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