It could have been worse. We are grateful that the severe winds didn’t cause any fires, blow down very many trees, kill or maim anyone (at least not that we’ve heard) or tear off roofs. It must have been a terrible time for anyone that was unhoused.
We lost one small hoophouse that was empty at the time, but the others made it through with little damage. And we were forced to stay closed on Saturday with no electricity, no heat, no water pumps, no internet and no phone. Our huge thanks go to the customers who came out on Sunday and helped us recoup a bit of our Saturday losses. Our phone and internet are still down, but we were blown away by the gracious patience of our customers as we tallied their purchases by hand and if they didn’t have cash or checkbooks, we wrote down their information so we can call them and complete credit card transactions over the phone when we have our service restored. We will continue to provide this service until our internet service is back, and we hope you will come and shop at Harlequin’s with cash or checks. Conducting credit card sales over the phone is more expensive for us than ordinary transactions.
For some, the preventative measures did more damage than the wind storm. On Sunday I drove across the county on major roads with no operating traffic signals and there were no mishaps, but I’ve heard that others weren’t so lucky. I drove past older shopping centers and businesses with no lights, no electricity, and no customers. Restaurants and grocers, stocked with fresh and frozen foods, have had losses from which they may never be able to recover. So please keep in mind the unseen devastation to businesses up and down the front range and support them to whatever extent you can. Tip your servers generously; they depend on weekend tips to pay their rent.