LAKEWOOD, Colo. — After a powerful windstorm swept through the Denver metro area Saturday, winds died down enough Sunday for residents to begin clearing fallen trees and branches and inspect the damage to their homes.
Lakewood resident Miles Reynolds said he woke up around 7 a.m. to walk the dog and was shocked by the state of his neighborhood.
"Soon as we left the garage, we looked over here and said 'wow,'" Reynolds said.
Reynolds was staring at a tree that split and blocked a driveway.
"Initially when I left the driveway, I was looking over here and I saw a branch down," he said. "Then I said, huh. No big deal. Then I looked over here and said 'that’s a big deal.'"
Reynolds said the most damage done was to a water well in his front yard. It was covered by a large pine tree Sunday. The same tree also fell onto part of a vintage Ford pickup truck in the driveway.
He said shortly after realizing the extent of the damage, he pulled out his excavator and chainsaw and went to work. He wasn't alone.
"With the work comes the enjoyment of it all," Reynolds said. "Great neighbors all out here helping already."
Reynolds owns three houses at the end of a dead-end street in Lakewood. He said neighbors living in those homes came out to move branches. One even brought his own chainsaw.
"We’ve got the greatest neighbors," he said "That’s why we don’t leave. You can pick your nose but you can’t pick your neighbors. So we’ve got good ones."
Reynolds used his excavator to pull the tree off the well and truck in his front yard. The well had completely collapsed, but luckily, the truck only had a small indent in the bed from where the tree fell.
Reynolds was most concerned about the truck.
"Family truck," he said. "Grandpa converted a '34 Ford and put it on a four-wheel drive chassis. This is what he liked to do and enjoyed. He ended up passing away several years back and gave it to the grandson."
He said his son has been working on the truck, and it hasn't been able to move from the driveway. He said he was glad his son's work could continue and nothing else was seriously damaged.
"Didn’t hit the house," Reynolds said. "Didn’t hit the other pine tree. Didn’t fall the other way and into the other house. So we feel blessed."
Reynolds spent Sunday delimbing and breaking down the pine as much as he could. He said it'll likely either be used or sold as firewood.
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