Tumbleweeds trap Fountain couple in their home

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO)-- Strong winds Saturday night and into Sunday morning in Southern Colorado downed power lines and tree limbs. But for one couple living in Fountain, the wind brought out so many tumbleweeds, they can't even get out of their own driveway.

"We couldn't even get out of here, this was all full," Marlies Gross said, pointing at the tower of tumble lurking at her front door.

"I looked out of my bathroom window and a tumbleweed kept on jumping up on the window!"

This isn't personification, Gross soon realized her home was actually enclosed by tumbleweeds.

"Horrible! Look at that from the deck!" she says, noticing all of her exits are blocked. "I opened the front door and it's whole tumbleweeds. It was full of tumbleweeds."

Gross says she tried to leave her driveway, but she couldn't see the road in front of her.

"I almost ran into the neighbor's fence because I didn't know where I was," she said.

Her neighbors spent hours Sunday morning, helping clear the road for Gross and her husband.

"You had to fight yourself through the tumbleweeds, which were above the car. You had to push yourself into it."

But even after the help, the sight from her back porch is a sea of tumble.

"You kind of almost, you know, you feel helpless," she said, "I thought it was a bad dream."

It's not a dream though, it's her reality. It's a reality with unknown next steps and a whole lot of tumbleweeds. Gross says she and her husband are working on contacting their insurance provider and also El Paso County to get help clearing them out.

But, now they're just hoping the wind doesn't blow even more tumbleweeds into this area, making the situation even worse.

"We still can't walk anywhere. I don't know how what we're going to do, how we get rid of those tumbleweeds. Oh, it's horrible."