Wind Causes Plenty Of Damage In Georgetown
GEORGETOWN, Colo. (CBS4) - Strong winds were clocked at just over 100 miles per hour on top of Berthoud Pass Saturday and those winds tore through Georgetown overnight.
The mountain community is located about 30 minutes west of Denver along Interstate 70.
Some longtime residents of Georgetown say the wind they experienced was some of the worst wind they've seen in about a decade. Homes around the lake seemed to suffer the most damage.
The lampposts in historic Georgetown are wrapped in holiday garland, standing out against gently falling snowflakes. It's quaint and historic, but around the shelter of downtown are high winds that kept one family from skiing just up the road at Loveland Ski Area right next to the Eisenhower Tunnel.
"Crazy, compared to what we normally see," a resident said.
Hal and Sylvia Lears from Centennial went up to their vacation home they bought three years ago right off the lake after getting a disturbing phone call. They arrived to find their white picket fence torn from the border of the yard, their front window shattered, and metal shelves that were sitting outside wrapped around a tree.
"We found two sections of our fence laying up against the house," Sylvia Lears said. "We got a call from somebody who works for the police department and said our front window had crashed into the house."
Behind the Lears' home the winds blew out windows on three cars sitting at their neighbor's house. They even saw that for themselves while heading up I-70 as they carefully drove around semi truck after semi truck blown over on their sides.
"I saw a highway patrol car; his windows were blown out," Hal Lears said.
"I've just had another semi rollover in front of me. Have CDOT close this now, please. And my window just blew out," the trooper said to dispatch.
A condo complex across the street from the Lears' had part of its roof ripped off, displacing several people into empty units until it can be repaired. One young resident described what it was like.
"It just sounded like the rooms were collapsing, almost," he said.
"The wind was so powerful all the glass was shaking," another young resident said.
The young man, his friend and his dad stayed at a neighbor's home down the road that was horribly damaged as well.
The winds were still strong on Sunday. Bits and pieces of the damage litter Georgetown from bent poles, torn signs, and twisted metal telling part of the story.
The sheriff's office says luckily no one was injured during the high winds.
People living in Georgetown say the power was also out from 9 p.m. until midnight.
