Colorado family startled awake as tree falls onto garage during winter storm
A family who lives in Castle Rock was startled awake in the middle of the night when a tree fell onto the home's garage. A winter storm hitting Colorado is bringing heavy, wet snow to the Front Range.
About 19 inches of snow has fallen in Castle Rock since Wednesday night and the snow is really weighing down the limbs and branches of trees in the area.
For one Castle Pines Village family, they were woken up in the middle of the night to what they said felt like an earthquake.
"At 3:30 in the morning, we got woken up to the house shaking. I just didn't know what was happening and then my daughter came out and said, 'There's a tree on our roof Dad!'"
That tree damaged the roof and a car parked outside. The family called several businesses but the quickest anyone can come to remove the tree is Saturday.
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Several communities in the Denver metro area are dealing with downed trees or fallen limbs as the snow continues to come down.
The Denver metro area will see increasing snow accumulation on Thursday afternoon as a Winter Storm Warning continues for the region.
Snow totals from the storm so far across the metro area vary wildly. As of 12 p.m., Highlands Ranch on the southern end had 18 inches and Golden on the western side had 16.5 inches. It has been three years since the metro area has seen snow totals that high. On the northeastern side it has been a different story. Denver International Airport has only recorded 1.1 inches so far, although there have been plenty of flight delays and cancellations out of the Mile High City. Accumulation in the foothills is even higher, with communities like Evergreen getting more than 25 inches.
As Castle Rock sees over 20 inches of snow, plowers were mainly focused on keeping the main roads clear, but residents spoke to CBS News Colorado reporter Olivia Young who are wondering when they will come clear their street.
"We don't even try to do the streets, especially in this kind of snow, we have to wait for them to plow. But the sidewalks, all my neighbors use it whenever they need it," said the neighbor.
Residents in Dougco he need to request their street to be plowed is encouraged to contact Douglas County Public Works.
Anyone living in Castle Rock is encouraged to email roads@crgov.com for plow assistance.