Weather Damages El Paso County Courthouse
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Updated: 11:01 PM Jun 26, 2009
Weather Damages El Paso County Courthouse
The courthouse in downtown Colorado Springs was damaged by a microburst Friday afternoon. Power has been restored to about 1,300 homes and businesses in the area.
Posted: 4:05 PM Jun 26, 2009
Reporter: KKTV 11 News
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The courthouse in downtown Colorado Springs was damaged by a microburst Friday afternoon. A lighting strike also knocked out power to 1,300 homes and businesses in the area near Prospect and Pikes Peak.

All those outages have been restored, but utility crews expect to work extra hours removing downed limbs from power lines.

Dave Rose with El Paso county said the fifth floor of the courthouse was evacuated after the air conditioning units on the roof were "dislodged" and possibly destroyed.

Three courtrooms and one judge's chamber received water damage.

Witnesses in the area say the storm lasted just ten minutes.

No one was seriously hurt and Rose says there will still be court on Monday.

The cost to replace the damaged roof is still not known.

A contractor working in the area says the damage was likely caused by a microburst, not a lightning strike.

Weather is also to blame for a downed tree, which blocked a portion of Ramona Avenue on the south side of Colorado Springs. The Colorado Springs Forestry Division cut down the tree and remove it.

Ramona Avenue was re-opened between Nevada and Tejon around 7:20 Friday night

Nearby residents say they heard the tree snap around 3 p.m. when a gust of wind hit the area.


Latest Comments

Posted by: Jon Location: Colo Springs on Jun 26, 2009 at 10:46 PM

"A contractor working in the area says the damage was likely caused by a microburst" So we're now expected to believe random bystanders about what weather phenomena we experience? I heard from a more reliable source (a meteorologist) that it was NOT a microburst, and I know who I'd rather believe . . .
Posted by: sissy Location: c/springs on Jun 26, 2009 at 06:01 PM

so i suppose a microburst is a tornadoe that doesn't drop out of the cloud. That cloud over our area around 2:30 had rotation in the center of it. I lived in KS for many years and know one when I see one with my naked eye...
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