Denver tried to dry out Thursday after lashed the area with a tornado, hail and flash floods, sending firefighters scrambling to water rescues and creating a nasty commute home.
Drying out wasn’t easy, though. A brief — but intense — thunderstorm moved across the city dumping sheets of rain, but no hail this time.
After Wednesday’s storm, flood damage and restoration companies faced a deluge of calls from customers in need, including the University of Denver.
DU’s Ritchie Center saw significant damage, including its basketball court when frigid water flowed in. The court was warped and bent like a wave two feet into the air. Carpeted locker rooms also flooded, raising concerns about mold damage.
“The water was just cold,” said Niko Blankenship, assistant director of athletic communications who was in the center during the storm. “It felt like I was at a beach in January.”
Standing water covered his feet on the basketball court at its peak, he said. Maintenance crews used squeegees Wednesday night in an attempt to limit the damage, while professional cleanup crews were on the scene Thursday.
“They’re continuing to discuss what the plan is going to be going forward,” Blankenship said. “Everything did what it was supposed to do. It just came too fast.”
Federal forecasters confirmed Thursday that a and southeast Denver, traveling just under three miles with wind speeds up to 90 mph.
The twister was about 50 yards wide and was an EF1 on the Fujita scale. It started at 4:48 p.m. near Quebec Street and Sixth Avenue, then lifted at 5:10 p.m. near Mount Nebo Memorial Park.
A transitional housing apartment building in the 1400 block of Jasmine Street was hit hard when the street flooded.
“It looked like a lake. There was a car floating down the street,” said Santiago Ceja, an employee with Step 13, the organization that runs the facility. “Now we’re just waiting to see basically what we can salvage.”
Volunteers worked in the mud-streaked basement as water vacuums and sump pumps hummed. The residents of the basement apartments were temporarily displaced.
The Denver Botanic Gardens reported no serious damage, only some fallen branches and minor damage to plants from the hail. This storm was far less damaging than , said Erin Bird, the communications manager at the Gardens.
