Cleanup in full force after Thursday’s storm

Storms Thursday night proved destructive for just about everyone in their path.

Neighbors are still assessing the damage, as many leaves, a lot of glass and much more still needs to be cleaned up.

Some people say, the damage is some of the worst they’ve ever seen.

“All the sudden just downpour huge ones,” homeowner J.R. Galbraith said.

“I’ve been in Colorado Springs 17 years and this is the worst hail storm I’ve ever seen,” Sean Pyrtle said.

Windshield after windshield, houses, fences and even patio furniture, all damaged by the storm.

“Every single screen needs to be replaced,” Galbraith said.

Galbraith and his family moved to Colorado Springs from California in October.

“We expected you know snowstorms, little bit of blizzard, a little bit of hail, and some thunder but nothing like that. No way,” Galbraith said.

Galbraith fished a piece of hail out of his backyard that measured nearly 2 inches in diameter. Luckily, no hail broke any windows on Galbraith’s house.

His neighbor Sean Pyrtle wasn’t as lucky. Both of his cars have windows broken out.

“I’ve spent enough time vacuuming up broken glass,” Pyrtle said.

In Pyrtle’s backyard, fences and even patio furniture took a beating.

His hot tub cover was meant to withstand a Colorado snowstorm, but it was no match for a Colorado hailstorm.

But that’s not all, Pyrtle’s roof is only a year old. Thanks to the storm, all that’s left is the black tar on the shingles.

Pyrtle estimates the total damage will be steep.

“Between $6,000 and $10,000,” Pyrtle said.

As for the hundreds of cars damaged across the city, restoring them could take a while.

“Glass damage can be fixed pretty quickly, the problem is getting the glass company there right now. They’re short on labor, they’re short on supplies at this point,” Hamlin’s Auto Body owner Carol Hamlin said.

Hamlin says her body shop is still fixing cars from the last hail storm, and some they fixed are back again.

“Sad to see everything we did and just accomplished and now we’re starting over again,” Hamiln said.

But Galbraith still has hope he doesn’t see this much damage again soon.

“It was an experience. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again,” Galbraith said. “for a very long time.”

Body shops around Colorado Springs are booked, some even into October because of all the damage.

Experts say to focus on getting the glass fixed for now to make cars driveable.