Hanover recovers after being hit hard by storm on Monday

Eight of the 18 power poles owned by Mountain View Electric that were broken or downed by a severe thunderstorm Monday afternoon in the Hanover community of southern El Paso County have been replaced.
The utility expects to have the remaining damaged poles repaired by Wednesday evening.

What remains unclear is how the poles snapped and splintered as they did.

“We think it must have been due to strong winds, maybe even a tornado,” said utility spokeswoman Sara Schaefer.

Xcel Energy crews also were repairing the company’s damaged infrastructure in the area Tuesday.

After sections of Hanover and Old Pueblo roads were closed Monday night because of the broken poles, a flood-damaged culvert overnight Monday caused a new closure on Old Pueblo Road.

“We hope to have that repaired in a week,” said Jim Reid, the county’s director of emergency management.

Reid said a county team of officials spent Tuesday inspecting the county’s infrastructure, looking for damage.

“Except for the washout on Old Pueblo Road, there hasn’t been any serious damage outside of flooding,” he said.

Word of the storm led J.R. Benavides and his family, of Fountain, to cut their camping vacation short.

“Hearing about hail and flooding, we decided to come back early,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect when we got home. Fortunately, everything is fine.”

Yvette Johnson, of Hanover, said she was nervous about driving Tuesday morning with hail, leaves and other debris on the roads.

“I just wanted to get home before it rains again,” she said.

For some neighbors, the closure of Old Pueblo Road around the damaged section means a 15-mile detour, coming through the south side of Fountain.

Other neighbors said the storm on Monday damaged property that had just been repaired or replaced after the previous storm, or caused damage that wasn’t caused by that previous storm.

(MONDAY, JULY 23)

Nearly two dozen power poles were broken or downed by the severe thunderstorm on Monday afternoon in the Hanover community of southern El Paso County.
“We don’t know if it was a tornado or just strong winds and hail that caused the damage,” said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Junglen, of the Hanover Fire Department. “But it snapped power poles as if they were toothpicks.”

Junglen said Mountain View Electric crews were assessing damage and making repairs.

“We’ve had a good deal of flooding also, especially along Old Pueblo Road,” he said. “Old Pueblo Road past the Hanover Road intersection will remain closed until further notice.”

Junglen said no one was hurt and there are no evacuations.

“But we’re not letting anyone back in there,” he said.

Streets and roads in the area were covered with pea-sized hail and shredded vegetation.

Junglen said the storm caused some damage to Hanover Fire Station 2.

Neighbors gathered at a nearby bridge to watch a swollen Fountain Creek full of debris and muddy water.

“It’s been a long time since I saw the creek that full,” a neighbor said. “It’s really rolling.”

Hanover endured a severe hailstorm earlier this year and several wildfires this spring.