Colorado zoo closed after hailstorm injures 5, kills birds

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A busy Colorado zoo was closed Tuesday as officials assessed damage from a severe hailstorm that sent five people to the hospital and killed two zoo birds.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo suffered extensive property damage in Monday afternoon’s short but intense storm. The storm with baseball-sized hail hit as about 3,400 people were at the zoo southwest of downtown Colorado Springs and cars in its parking lot were pummeled by the hail.

Besides those taken to the hospital, another nine people were treated at the scene, the Colorado Springs Fire Department said.

Jenny Koch, the zoo’s marketing director, said a vulture and a duck were killed by the hail. A second vulture was also injured by hail and was being cared for in a veterinary hospital.

None of the children attending zoo camp was injured.

The National Weather Service said hail the size of baseballs was reported at the zoo and softball-sized hail was reported in the neighboring city of Security.

Hotel employee Carlton Burton shovels leaves and hail after a storm Monday, Aug. 6, 2018. | Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP

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The back window of a car was broken by a hailstorm. | Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP

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Hail the size of baseballs lie on the ground near The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo., after a storm Monday, Aug. 6, 2018. | Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP

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Visitors at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo were evacuated to a nearby high school after a powerful hailstorm hit the zoo Monday, Aug. 6, 2018, in Colorado Springs, Colo. | Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP

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