BENNET, Colo. — Less than a week after a devastating tornado outbreak struck Colorado, community support is pouring in to help residents impacted by the storms.
On Sunday, four tornadoes tore through Elbert, Arapahoe, and Adams counties, damaging or destroying 36 homes. The National Weather Service rated three of the tornadoes as EF2s.
Immediately following the storms, Denver7 Gives created a fund dedicated to helping recovery efforts. The quick response has been heartening, with generous donations pouring in from across the state.
One of the hardest-hit properties belongs to Vikki Katchen, who described the aftermath of the tornado as "devastating."
Katchen has spent 24 years renovating and building her dream home and property. Now, most of it has been turned into twisted piles of debris.
Her home still stands, but it is badly damaged and will need inspection by a structural engineer before she can begin repairs and move back in.
“It seemed like it happened so fast,” Katchen said. “This was my dream. I’ve wanted to live on a farm my entire life. We all worked together to try to make it our dream. It’s gone in a matter of minutes.”
Her family, friends, and neighbors have rallied to help Katchen clean up the massive debris left in the storm's wake. Using dumpsters provided by donations through Denver7 Gives, Katchen's family is hoping to collect the debris as quickly as possible.
“We're probably going to have about 20 bins,” Vikki's son, Lee Katchen, said, noting that they already have four bins on-site. “We’ll have these filled up in the next couple of hours, and then we're going to need more.”
Viewer donations have played a critical role in supporting Katchen and others affected by the tornadoes.
“Without my Denver7 viewers, we would just still be standing around going, ‘What are we going to do with all this?’” Katchen said, reflecting on the support they’ve received and the overwhelming amount of clean-up still to be done.
However, dealing with insurance has added to the challenges for Katchen and her family. They are still waiting for their insurance provider to assess the damage, and frustrations are mounting.
“The insurance companies plan to come out next Wednesday, which seems shocking that it takes a week and a half,” Lee Katchen said.
“But good thing we have good neighbors and good family and good friends,” said Vikki Katchen.
Despite the overwhelming sense of loss and the long road ahead for recovery, Katchen remains hopeful.
“I’m still in a daze,” she said. “We’ve had so many people donate money, people drive up and hand us cash. The positive is we have so much support.”
As the community continues to work together, the Katchens and their neighbors are determined to focus on moving forward, one step at a time.
“We’ve never stopped. We’ve worked from sunup to sundown,” Lee Katchen added. “We appreciate the help. That's all I can say. We couldn't do this without everybody's help.”
Denver7 features the stories of people who need help and now you can help them with a cash donation through Denver7 Gives. One hundred percent of contributions to the fund will be used to help people in our local community.
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