WINDSOR – Ten years ago the images coming out of Windsor, Colorado were the talk of the country.
A tornado that stayed on the ground for nearly 40 miles left a devastating trail of damage through Weld and Larimer counties. The EF3 tornado killed one person and left 78 others injured. After touching down near Platteville on the morning of May 22, 2008, it grew to more than a mile wide.
“Ten years ago today I was mayor of the town of Windsor, I had been in office all of five weeks,” said former Mayor John Vazquez. “[It] came in through town a little bit before noon and spent about 15 minutes in town from the south side to the north side passing through this area, hitting both parks and town hall.”
People who lived through the twister remember it as if it were yesterday.
“It was a little overcast and I remember driving to work, I remember thinking, ‘boy, we could get some storms today,’” said Terry Walker, Director of Public Works. “It was just loud as heck, we lost the roofs, all the drain gutters - everything.”
What has been called a miracle that day, was the daycare that survived the tornado strike. Windmill Child Enrichment Center was damaged during the storm while almost everything around it was destroyed. None of the 131 kids and 22 staff members were injured.
“Toddlers were eating lunch, then it all happened,” said Angie Ruiz, assistant director of the Windmill Child Enrichment Center. “The director came in said there was big hail for us to go to the middle of the building. We pulled kids out of their high chairs in the middle of eating, didn’t want the windows to break with that big hail.”
Ruiz said she hid in the bathroom with the kids in her care. But her own 5-year-old daughter was in another area of the daycare and she couldn’t go to her.
“There are many memories,” Ruiz said. “My ears popping - that’s when I knew it was hitting. My ears popping being in the bathroom my back was to the wall, I could feel stuff hitting the back of the wall, not knowing if the whole building was going to collapse at that point or not, I could just feel stuff hitting the back. They say the freight train noise, just hearing that real loud noise.
"My daughter was back here in the gym. So wondering where she was, if she was OK, not being able to hold her at the time. The gas smell, having to leave the building, walking across to the bank with all those kids.”
When the storm ended, the town came together.
“All the citizens were out trying to help their neighbors, everybody was trying to do what they could as quick as they could,” Walker said. “I think it made Windsor very [sic] stronger community, put more pride in Windsor and to this day people still will come up and hug you from the tornado and here it is - 10 years later because they were so glad that we responded the way we did.”
According to the town’s population numbers, it also doubled in size since 2008; more than 29,000 people live in Windsor now, up from about 16,000 people 10 years ago.
“Can’t believe it’s been 10 years, but you know, after the first year Windsor was about a new story; we had everybody back in their homes by Christmas, we had every business with the exception of the mill, opened, that wanted to be reopened within a year,” Vazquez said. “Windsor was never [a] 'woe is us' community, it was a 'wow' community. We’ve seen a lot of good things happen over the last nine years that make me smile.”
