Winds bring life-altering damages to Fremont County – leaves family without home

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Devastating winds ravaged all of Southern Colorado Wednesday. Fremont County is currently dealing with the aftermath of life-altering wind damage.

One family in the small community of Williamsburg, just two miles west of Florence, is currently looking for shelter after strong winds destroyed their home.

"It sounded like the whole house was coming down,” said Adam Clawson. “I stood up real quick. I heard my father-in-law yell out ‘Oh my god the whole roof is gone!’ It sounded like a semi-truck landed on the house."

Dangerous winds bring life-altering property damage to Fremont County. This truck was destroyed when a tree uprooted in the city of Florence around 7:30 am. The truck's owner tells me it sounded like nothing she's ever heard before. @KRDONC13 pic.twitter.com/ECuccgQ30K

— Dan Beedie KRDO (@BeedieonTV) December 15, 2021

Clawson says he was laying in bed just before 10 a.m. when large portions of the family’s rental home at Wilmont Circle South tore off and landed in the backyard.

Clawson and his girlfriend’s family moved into the rental home just two weeks ago. They weren't even fully unpacked, now the home is without power and they have no where to go.

“We put up a Christmas tree, and this is the first time my girlfriend and her family had a Christmas tree up in about six years. We all just got back together, and we are ready to have Christmas in about a week,” said Clawson. “Now our home is in pieces.”

It’s currently unclear when the family will be able to move back onto the property. For tonight, they plan on staying in a nearby hotel. However, they have no long-term plans right now.

Meanwhile, two miles east, violent winds gave Florence resident Cara Hodges a rude wake-up call.

"I'm laying in bed watching Good Morning America and the dogs are with me. And I hear this loud (noise). I thought, maybe there was a crash outside with two cars,” said Hodges. “I saw the damage and I was like oh my god. It's totaled. It's just totaled."

A tree fell directly on top of Hodges's ten-year-old truck - smashing the front windshield, caving in the roof, and effectively leaving the truck useless.

“It was just so loud. It was like a huge. Not even a crash it was like a boom,” said Hodges. “Like a bomb like, a big boom.”