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Microburst Knocks Down Trees, Power In East Denver

DENVER (CBS4) - Crews were putting in long hours cleaning up after a brief, yet violent surge of weather that hit Denver on Thursday.

Tornado-like winds ripped through Denver's Park Hill neighborhood east of Colorado Boulevard and north of East Colfax Avenue. Some of the worst of the damage was at 17th and Forrest and Eudora and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

At approximately 7 p.m. a big storm created a microburst pushing a powerful wind down over the area.

"All of a sudden this big branch fell like right in front of my brothers," a young resident said. "It was really scary."

The strong winds knocked down power lines and snapped large trees like twigs. One went crashing into a home and another all but crushed a car. Nobody was hurt.

Some cleanup began not long after the microburst ended. Tree service crews cleared toppled trees from city streets for hours, but residents may be dealing with damage for days.

"I came home and found the tree across the street, across our yard. It knocked down one of our gardens and the fence in our yard," homeowner David Litteman said.

Xcel Energy says about 1,000 customers were without power overnight because of the storm. All was restored by about 5:30 a.m. Friday.

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