Tornado damages JBS-Swift HQ, misses beef plant

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A tornado on Thursday damaged the headquarters of beef and pork producer JBS-Swift & Company in Greeley, Colorado, but missed its beef plant, company officials said.

Also, more storms were forecast for the area on Friday, an state emergency management official said.

"The JBS Swift & Company corporate offices were damaged on Thursday as a result of the tornadoes that hit the area. The damages are still being evaluated and the office is operating with essential personnel only at this time," Tamara Smid, JBS Swift spokeswoman, said in an email on Friday.

The corporate office should be operating normally on Tuesday, she said.

Earlier, the company had said the headquarters were not operational.

No one at Swift was injured during the storms.

The storm system, which spawned about six tornadoes, swept through north central Colorado on Thursday, killing one person, damaging about 150 homes and an unknown number of businesses, and knocked out power to about 60,000 homes, Polly White, spokeswomen for the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, said on Friday.

"The National Weather Service has issued a flash food warning in the area today with severe storms," said White.

(Reporting by Bob Burgdorfer; Editing by Christian Wiessner)