AKRON, Colo. (KDVR) — A macroburst caused 102 mph wind gusts in Akron Tuesday morning, leading to severe damage in the town.
The National Weather Service said Tuesday morning that they are considering the Akron wind damage event a, “macroburst.”
What is a, “macroburst”? It’s essentially much larger cousin to a microburst. Both terms (macro and micro) can be broadly described simply as a, “downburst.”
Reports submitted to the National Weather Service state that multiple power poles are down, large trees are down, multiple carports were removed from homes, several outbuildings and grain silos were demolished and a radio tower was folded in half.
Jamie Arfsten shared these pictures of damage in Akron:
Akron resident Chris Martinez says he feels defeated.
“I mean, we thought Saturday was bad,” Martinez said.
On Saturday, during his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday party, wind ripped their home right off of the foundation.
“Worked so hard just to try to get it here in the first place, now it’s probably not even worth salvaging at this point and this is all we got,” Marinez said.
A few miles away, the Wylie family is also without a roof. They woke up to the noise and looked to see what happened.
“At that time, all the insulation started blowing in my face and then I saw the roof lift, and at that point I started yelling for my wife and my daughter,” resident Justin Wylie said.
“It’s just unreal, really just trying to accept what happened is the hard part for us,” Martinez said. “We didn’t have a warning. We didn’t know it was going to happen like that.”
Shocked and devastated, the small town’s residents continue to do what they do best: support one another.
“We had a crew come over this morning to help us. We didn’t even call them, they just knew and showed up,” Wylie said. “The good part of small community.”
“That’s what we have to do. We can’t let it get to us, can’t let it get us down, but it is hard,” Martinez said.
A GoFundMe account has been established for the Martinez family.