GREELEY, Colo. — One person was killed and another was seriously injured in a storm that brought large hail and heavy rain to Greeley Tuesday night.
A city spokesperson confirmed the injury and the death, but was unable to provide any more information about the circumstances. The Weld County Coroner's Office said Thursday that the victim's cause of death had not yet been determined.
Several east Greeley neighborhoods suffered significant flooding after the storm, which flooded streets and prompted road closures and nearly a dozen rescues.
During the heart of the storm late Tuesday, the city received 71 calls for service during a four-hour period. Greeley agencies and crews from Platte Valley, Evans and Windsor assisted 47 callers and completed 10 rescues, a city spokeswoman said.
Numerous businesses and city facilities in the downtown area were temporarily closed Wednesday due to flooding impacts. That included The Active Adult Center, located at 1010 6th St., and City Center North on 10th Street, which houses the city's building inspection department. Other city buildings experienced minor flooding impacts and remain open and operational.
A string of businesses along Ninth Avenue were unable to open due to damage. Some of them, like Mom's Popcorn shop, had their basement and main floor flooded.
"We raced over here to find water gushing through our back door," Mom's Popcorn owner Rebecca Victor said. "It really was a rainforest down there [in the basement]. It was raining from the back end to the front end of the building."
By late Wednesday morning, Victor had already cleaned up much of the mess. She said she had to throw away a lot of inventory damaged by the flooding. Victor's neighbor, Corri Mehan, had to do the same thing.
"Every time you pick something up there’s a new puddle and you can see the walls are starting to soak it in too," Mehan said as she stood in the basement of her business, the Downtown Oddity Parlor.
A lot of the inventory she stores in her basement was destroyed.
"Lots of fun vintage books, science equipment," she said. "I have yet to see what the extent of the damage is, but it’s going to be a little bit. It’s going to be a long day."
> Dealing with flooding? Here's what you can do
Both Mehan and Victor received calls from their business neighbor Marie Flores, who was still in her shop as the storm approached.
Flores' dessert store, Sweet Talk Shoppe, was scheduled to open next week, but due to all the flood damage it will likely have to be pushed back.
"It was a shock," Flores said. "Everyone's a family and a community, and we all watch out for each other, so I was like I knew this was going to be devastating."
Staff worked "tirelessly" overnight to clean and clear city streets, the city spokeswoman said. They were back out Wednesday morning assessing damage as the waters receded. As of 1 p.m., they had completed 25 damage assessments to residential, business and public infrastructure. Most of those buildings had no damage, but a few were destroyed or had major damage, the spokesperson said.
Property owners who experienced damage are encouraged to report it to the Weld County government by clicking here. The information will go directly to the Weld County Office of Emergency Management for review and tracking. The form should not be used for insurance purposes or anyone needing immediate assistance.
Linda Pelton has lived in Greeley for three decades and says she has never seen such bad damage in the area.
“To me, it just looks like a tornado, a war zone,” Pelton said. "I can’t describe it because my lilac bushes were all full, all this was irises in bloom, it was beautiful.”
Pelton said she is not alone, her neighbors are all in similar situations.
“Like someone just took a machine gun and just ripped up everybody’s trailers,” Pelton said. “I am stunned. I am sitting here thinking ‘how am I going to fix this?’”
Pelton said she was lucky she didn’t have damage inside, but it’s still hard to wrap her head around it all.
“I am truly depressed,” Pelton said. “And I am sad, and I am still in shock. I don’t know how anybody is, you know, going to cover all the repairs.”
A temporary shelter at the Greeley Family FunPlex opened Tuesday night and is expected to remain open at least through the day Wednesday. The city said eight people and two dogs were utilizing that shelter.
Around 6:30 Wednesday morning, the city said on social media that 16th Street was closed between U.S. 85 and Seventh Avenue. Sixth Avenue was closed between 16th Street and 13th Street. Most other downtown roads were back open by around 9 a.m.
According to the National Weather Service in Boulder, golf ball size hail was reported in Johnstown. That's a hailstone measuring 1.75 inches in diameter.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Colorado Weather