Homeowners afraid of long delays in repairs

Homeowners are still cleaning up from the sheer destruction left behind from Monday’s storms.

Home improvement companies have been busy going through homes, some of which were destroyed by massive hail.

One of those homes was occupied by Rhonda Williams.

Her basement started to leak Monday afternoon when the storm began, then the doors and windows busted open. Next thing she knew, she was running for her life.

“I ran out without my purse, I ran out without anything. It was all I could do to get out of there or get buried in it. No time to think. no nothing,” Williams said.

She and her husband were able to save a few photos and trinkets, but most everything else was destroyed.

Tony Seal, with Tony’s Home Improvement, was at the apartment helping the family Tuesday.

“The refrigerator is floating, and if you can fit back there… it’s about as bad as it gets,” he said. He, and many others, have been responding to calls nonstop.

Another homeowner in Colorado Springs says if her experience is any indication, the cleanup process from the storm could take weeks.

Alyse Rzemek has ruined carpet, damage to drywall and debris in her yard but not from Monday’s storm. She is still cleaning up from a storm in late July.

“The street was blacked out, I saw my husband and my son just piling water over the fence,” she said. “It’s a month later and we still have stuff everywhere.”

Her insurance company rejected her claim, despite having some insurance coverage. She’s been waiting weeks for a company to come to her house to start putting new carpeting in.

“You stepped on it it was wet, it was just was a muggy feeling. How deep? Maybe a few inches. But it was horrible feeling that your basement isn’t clean.”

She admits storms in the last few days make her nervous, as does the chance for more rain later this week.

“Sunday night when it started raining really late at night, we freaked out. It wasn’t stopping,” she said.

A fear shared by hundreds of others in Colorado Springs, as they all try to pick up the pieces.