Clean Up Just Beginning After Tuesday's Hail Storm

By Tom Mustin

DENVER (CBS4) - On Wednesday afternoon blocks of ice still littered the parking lot near West 72nd Avenue and Pecos Street, closing down the KFC, and leaving long-time residents like Alan Bell in disbelief.

"I mean it just busted loose," Bell told CBS4's Tom Mustin. "It just started piling up on cars and everything else. You can see I have natural camouflage now."

Tuesday's hailstorm flooded the parking lot of Five Stars Auto Sales, submerging cars, and sending a foot of water inside the building.

"Never seen anything like this before," said owner Maria Vasquez.

She arrived on Wednesday to soaked file cabinets and submerged floors.

"I wasn't expecting it to be this bad to be honest. Paperwork, titles, it's really bad."

Vasquez and her husband took over the business seven years ago. She says her cars were spared hail damage, but the high water may have caused major electrical problems.

Vasquez is still waiting for insurance estimates, but she's stunned by the destruction caused by Mother Nature to her life's work.

"We don't know the extent of the damage yet. As you can see, everything is wet, everything is damaged."

Vasquez's dog Pinky disappeared during the storm and spent a traumatic night hiding in the flooded office. As he happily scampered outside on Wednesday, Vasquez tried to pick up the pieces and hope for the best.

"I pray that everything will be fine. We worked so hard for this. It's just upsetting."

Vasquez's husband says they're still waiting for insurance estimates, but he believes the business easily suffered several thousand dollars' worth of damage.

Tom Mustin is CBS4's Weekend Anchor. He has been with CBS4 since 2002, and is always looking for great story ideas. Connect with Tom on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @TomCBS4.