By Maria StLouis-Sanchez
The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado Springs first responders said Thursday they were inundated with calls for help during Wednesday night’s epic storm.
The city’s 911 system logged more than 600 calls in two hours, said Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach, who held a news conference with city leaders Thursday morning to discuss the storm.
He said responders rescued 40 people — and even a dog — trapped either in their vehicles or from flooding basements.
“It was an epic storm, there was not question about it,” said Rich Brown, chief of the Colorado Springs Fire Department. “People were sitting on top of cars, they were stuck in intersections.”
Sunny Smaldino, a fire department spokeswoman, said the department received 25 calls to rescue people who were trapped in their vehicles and 21 calls from people who needed help when their homes flooded. Some residents reported as much as 5 to 8 feet of water inside, she said.
The city said it was unaware of any fatalities or major injuries.
Police said four cruisers were disabled when they got stuck in floodwaters, and five officers had to be sent home early after wading through cold water during rescue efforts. Deputy Chief Vince Niski said the officers had “near hypothermia” conditions after they went out in the water to help people. He said they didn’t have gear to protect them from the cold water.
Smaldino said firefighters were up to their waist in water as they worked to assist people in flooded intersections. At times, other vehicles would go around police barriers, causing waves in the water.
“They were up to their shoulders when that happened,” she said.
The worst-hit areas were in central Colorado Springs, from The Citadel mall up to North Carefree Circle. The hail there was so deep that city snowplows were called out to clean those roads, said Laura Neumann, chief of staff for the city.
She said that city street crews are assessing the damage and don’t know how long it will take to clean up debris or what the cost will be. She said the city is working to find a place where members of the public can help the city by dumping debris found in their neighborhood.
The flooding was bad in the central part of the city for a couple of reasons, according to officials.
First off, Brown said, the storm hit that area the hardest and stayed there for a long time. Also, Newman said, the city storm drains are too small and the problem becomes exacerbated when hail and debris clog them.
In that area, rainwater fell as fast as four inches in two hours.
Mayor Steve Bach called the storm something that happens every 100 years.
“Unfortunately, it happened last night.”
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