Downed trees, thousands without power in Pueblo following wind storm

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Hurricane-force winds blew through Pueblo County Wednesday. The combination of record wind gusts, dust storms, and downed trees had an impact on the local power grid.

During the peak of the storm Wednesday, more than 27,000 Black Hills Energy customers were without power. At 11 a.m. Thursday, Black Hills Energy reported 4,400 customers were without power. Broken down by region, that was:

• 1,800 customers in Pueblo
• 600 customers in Cañon City
• 2,000 customers in Rocky Ford

Crews worked throughout the day and by 5 p.m., less than 1,600 customers across all Black Hills Energy communities remain without power.

While that number is a fraction of what it was, those remaining customers braced themselves for another dark night.

Destiny Chadwick lives in South Pueblo. Earlier Thursday, she shared her experience of having no power Wednesday night.

"Everybody was either asleep or they also didn't have power so there was no way to contact anybody and I was kind of like who do you call? Do you call 911? Who do you call?" Chadwick questioned.

Chadwick told KRDO she had just moved to Pueblo three months ago and wasn't aware that extreme weather events could happen in the Steel City.

"I actually had to ask someone if this was a normal Colorado thing that happens, and people were like no it's not normal, there is usually some snow and maybe some wind in the windy season but it's not that bad. It felt like tornado wind," Chadwick said.

Black Hills Energy released safety reminders to customers still experiencing a power outage:

• Do not try to remove any debris if it is on a powerline or outdoor electrical equipment. Assume any downed power line is energized
• During an outage, unplug sensitive computer and electronic equipment or protect them with a high-quality surge protector.

A bulletin on Black Hills Energy's website said the power company is experiencing "high call volumes" related to the wind storm. For non-emergency requests, Black Hills Energy said to reach out online or through Facebook or Twitter.

Black Hills Energy says crews are working through the night to safely restore power to the remaining customers. According to the Black Hills Energy outage map, there are a little more than 600 customers without power as of 10 p.m.

To check the outage map, click here.

Power outages weren't the only obstacles Pueblo residents had to endure.

Several fallen and damaged trees filled Elizabeth Street Wednesday, a busy one-way street in Pueblo.

According to neighbors in the area, a massive oak tree blocked the road for several hours.

Jomaque Cannon lives right next door to the large oak tree. She told KRDO she could hardly hear the tree fall because the wind was so loud outside.

"The wind yesterday morning was so loud. Mostly, that's what you could hear, just the wind whipping through the trees," Cannon said. "I didn't hear it fall over. I literally came out because I saw the police lights. We had been listening to the wind since like seven o'clock in the morning. My husband said he wore a face mask on his walk with the dog because there was so much dust."

Crews arrived on the scene and began cutting the oak tree into smaller pieces that now lie on the side of Elizabeth Street.

Thursday, the City of Pueblo's Public Works Department and the Pueblo Parks and Recreation created two locations for neighborhood cleanups, one on the northside and one on the southside.

Southside Location: Intersection of Palmer Avenue and Reno Avenue near Lake Minnequa Park. Vehicles should enter from Palmer and exit on Berkley and follow directional arrows.

Northside Location: North/east corner of the intersection of Ridge Boulevard and Eagleridge Boulevard. Vehicles should take Ridge Drive north to Landmark Drive and enter on the north side of the lot.

The following will be accepted:

• Trees
• Shrubs
• Branches
• Green waste

Items like lumber, building materials, household trash, and other waste will not be accepted.

The times are listed below:

• Thursday, December 16: 12 p.m.- 4 p.m.
• Friday, December 17: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• Saturday, December 18: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
• Sunday, December 19: 12 p.m.- 4 p.m.