WINDSOR — Under blue skies early Saturday afternoon, Elaine Froemming built two stacks in front of the rubble of her home.
A brass bed frame, a rolled-up Oriental rug, a grandfather clock and framed photos were in a pile on the left side of her yard. These were things she planned on keeping.
An equally large mound on the right side included broken table and chair legs along with wooden and plastic objects too small to distinguish what they had been part of. These mud-coated scraps were destined for the dump.
“It’s just stuff,” Froemming said. “It’s devastating that we lost one life, but it could be a lot worse.”
Froemming and hundreds of others were allowed by city leaders to return Saturday morning to their homes and businesses for the first time since a mile-wide tornado ripped through their neighborhoods.
Many were left with little more than their determination to rebuild.
“Citizens knew it would be bad,” said Mayor John Vasquez. “There is a lot of emotion. There is also a sense of relief that they’re getting started. I think morale is high. But we know this is going to be a long row to hoe.”
102 homes can’t be saved
Inspectors declared 102 homes, including Froemming’s, to be unsafe for habitation.
Another 154 homes are habitable but will require repairs, said Dan Hatlestad, spokesman for the incident command team.
The inspectors have assessed 596 homes and businesses in areas hit hardest by the tornado that struck the town just after noon Thursday. Of those, 340 are cleared for occupancy.
More than 25 inspectors from across Colorado left notices at each home and business indicating the level of damage, Russ Weber of Windsor’s building department told homeowners at a meeting Saturday morning at Windsor High School.
People with green and light yellow notices will be allowed to stay in their homes. Those with red notices will not be allowed to stay, Weber said.
“Those are the most severely damaged,” he said. “Please use caution.”
Crews of firefighters will walk through the affected neighborhoods and offer assistance, and they might ask people to step away from hazardous homes or buildings, Weber said.
The National Guard and law enforcement will patrol the damaged areas to prevent looting. Barricades were removed.
Power will be restored to about 95 percent of homes and businesses in the damaged area of Windsor by Monday. Although utilities are working generally throughout the affected areas, some homes are still disconnected because of tornado damage.
City workers were focusing on clearing downed trees in cemeteries in preparation for Memorial Day.
Request for federal aid
Saturday night, Gov. Bill Ritter announced that he has formally requested federal disaster assistance for Weld and Larimer counties. His request was forwarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for review and will be forwarded by FEMA to President Bush for approval.
If the request is granted, possible assistance includes grants and low-interest loans to homeowners, farmers and businesses.
Officials from the Colorado Division of Housing were at the Windsor Community Recreation Center on Saturday to help people in need of housing assistance.
The Red Cross will provide short-term housing to some families and individuals needing accommodations for 30 days or less.
“At this point, it’s up in the air what we’re going to do,” said Michael Edwards, 37, standing in front of a house with a red notice.
He said that on Thursday, when he rushed home to search for his basset hound, the wreckage left him “shocked, just totally shocked.”
The top of Edwards’ house was shorn off by the tornado. A bulldozer will finish what the storm started.
When a road crew carried an American flag on a front-end loader into the neighborhood Saturday morning, people clapped and cheered, Edwards said. The crew gave him the flag, which he hung from what was left of his garage.
“We’re going to survive,” he said with tears welling up in his eyes.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
Community service
A community service with clergy from the area will be held at 4 p.m. today at the high school auditorium, 1100 Main St.
Memorial Day
Public Works will focus on removing downed trees and debris from the cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day services, which will still be held. Information about the services, including the time of the ceremony, will be forthcoming as officials assess cleanup progress.
If you want to help
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office offered guidelines Friday for people who want to help after the tornadoes that hit several northern Colorado towns:
•Coordinate with your preferred disaster response agency to ensure the right type and amount of items are collected. A list of current needs is available by calling 211 or 800-559-5590 or going to .
•Focus on one or two items the agency says it needs; that reduces time spent sorting items.•Items contributed should be new, in unopened packages.
•A financial contribution earmarked for a particular disaster response like Central Weld Tornado is often the most efficient way to help. Cash helps ensure the agency can get exactly what is needed and provides an easily documented tax deduction for you.
•Check back with the agency after a few days or weeks to see if further contributions are needed.
Some items may hinder effective response to a disaster:
•Used clothing is difficult to sort and expensive to transport. Consider selling used items at a yard sale and contributing the proceeds for disaster relief.
•Disaster response agencies are not permitted to use bottled water unless it is commercially sealed. They also are not allowed to use home-canned food; canned goods that are dented, rusted or out of date; or used underwear.
The Associated Press
