Hurricane-Force Winds Toppled Trees And Power Lines Near Estes Park
ALLENSPARK, Colo. (CBS4) - Winds continued to whip across the Front Range on Monday. A Red Flag Warning expired Monday evening after hurricane-force winds toppled trees and power lines over the weekend.
Some near Estes Park are still without power.
It wasn't just beetle-killed trees that were knocked down. Healthy trees around Allenspark, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park were blown over.
Volunteers with chainsaws in Rocky Mountain National Park were busy clearing knocked down trees on Monday.
"Just the size of the trees that have come down; there are a couple of trees … that are 30 inches in diameter," a volunteer said. "It just totally ripped out the root structure."
The road to Sprague Lake had to be closed because of fallen trees.
In Allenspark about 1,500 people had been without power since Friday night after fallen trees brought down power lines.
"We're still on a well, so if we don't have power, we don't have water," an Allenspark resident said.
"The noise of that wind was like it was going to blow the roof right off," another resident said.
After 37 hours without power residents have a renewed appreciation for electricity.
"You don't think much about it until you're without it for a couple days," another resident said.
Estes Park Light & Power said they are still working to restore power in areas that are tough for crews to reach. In some areas they can only get in with ATVs or on foot. About 80 percent of the power has been restored.
