TELLER COUNTY — The Teller County Office of Emergency Management said less than 50 people are still stuck in their homes following last week's massive snowstorm. That's down from a few thousand originally snowed in at the beginning of the storm.
Crews said they're making progress reaching people through the snow, but the mud is making things more difficult. County officials said most of the people still stranded are in remote areas or have long driveways. Teller County Search and Rescue, a group of all-volunteers, are also responding to calls as needed.
“We don’t normally get a lot of calls in a day but through this snow storm it’s gotten pretty busy," said volunteer Josh Friesema. “In areas, especially in the trees, there’s still three feet of snow.”
The team has been doing welfare checks on residents. Friesema said many of the calls they've gotten are from family members who haven't heard from their loved ones since the start of the storm.
“I think we did welfare checks on like 10 people during the storm itself and I know that the County Commissioners and the Sheriff’s deputies have been out doing welfare checks around the county ever since the storm," said Heather Davis, a volunteer with the search and rescue team.
Friesema said some other calls for help are coming in from visitors to the county who are stranded in short-term rentals.
William Hauser and his friends were on their way to their Airbnb off Monarch Drive just north of Cripple Creek when they noticed the long driveway to the home was snow-packed.
"It's in the middle of nowhere and that's what we wanted but didn't expect the snow to make it so hard to get there," he said.
This storm was deadly for two county residents: one Woodland Park man died after suffering a medical emergency while shoveling his driveway on Saturday and another man in Florissant died while trying to get to his car through the snow to go to the hospital on Monday.
More snow is expected to hit the area on Sunday, but our First Alert 5 Weather Team said this storm will not bring feet of snow like it did last week.
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