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Town Of Eaton Pounded By Hail Storm

EATON, Colo. (CBS4) - Hail ripped the awning off a school and forced police officers to spend the day cleaning up instead of fighting crime in the town of Eaton.

Eaton, near Greeley, was absolutely socked by the hail storm Thursday night. Piles of hail lined the roads.

"We ranged from silver dollar sized hail to pea sized hail. It lasted about 45 minutes," Fagerberg Farm manager Rod Weimer said.

It was 45 minutes that seemed like an eternity to Weimer. Onion stems were sheared off, crops were flooded, and corn that just before the storm was knee-high was now barely visible. Weimer is optimistic that many of the crops will rebound.

"These were up a good 10 inches tall, 10 to 12 inches tall," Weimer said of the crops.

At Eaton Elementary School pieces of the awning came crashing down from the weight of all of the hail. Classrooms were also damaged. School officials spent the day vacuuming the flooded classrooms.

Employees at the Eaton police station were also cleaning up.

"Something you wish you didn't come to work to," Capt Arthur Mueller said.

Melted hail flooded the station roof, sending soggy ceiling tiles crashing down.

Although long hours were spent cleaning, those who live in Eaton are thankful it wasn't worse.

Although the farmers in the area were hit hard, they say because it's so early in the season most of those crops damaged will survive.

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