Power Restored In Lamar After Tornado

The Lamar Fire Department announced Friday night that power has been restored to much of the town of Lamar in Prowers County.

Electricity had been out since earlier in the morning, when strong storms knocked out a substation and downed many power poles and lines.

Authorities had hoped to restore power by the evening. However, there still may be isolated outages outside Lamar, where storm damage was reported and four homes appeared to be destroyed or heavily damaged.

The loss of power forced many businesses to close, particularly gas stations, which were unable to operate their fuel pumps. Paul Booth, who was driving from Denver to Fort Worth, Texas parked outside a Lamar gas station for several hours as he waited to refuel.

“I didn’t listen to the radio and didn’t know we’d had any tornadoes,” said Booth. “I’ll wait for the gas as long as I have to. I can’t go any farther without it.”

Message boards across the state had advised travelers to avoid Lamar until power was restored.

Meanwhile, the loss of power was a low priority for Randy and Lisa Alba, who survived tornado damage to their home while they were asleep. They said they’re thankful to be alive but wonder what the future holds. Their home was uninsured.

“We’ll start over, no big thing. We’ll be OK,” said Lisa Alba.