A spring storm brought rain, severe hail, flash flooding and tornado watches Tuesday afternoon to the Front Range.
Firefighters were inundated with electric fires, dozens of alarms and numerous high – water rescues. Tornado watches were in effect for most of the Front Range on Tuesday afternoon, but no touchdowns were reported.
Northeast Denver was particularly hard hit with heavy flooding. Cars were submerged at intersections where water rose quickly, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
Four occupied cars were swamped by flash flooding at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Magnolia Street. Another car was caught in about 3 feet of water at the intersection of 37th Avenue and Columbine Street.
In Fort Collins, firefighters responded to two house fires sparked by lightning within 17 minutes of each other. There were no injuries.
Streets in downtown Denver took on the look of a snowstorm in January with a covering of hail.
The Denver Botanic Gardens, nearly in full bloom, suffered some damage “but not nearly as bad as it could have been,” said Dan Johnson, curator of the native plants.
“The iris and peonies were hit pretty bad,” he said, “but they have more buds coming out, so it will be just a temporary setback.”
