Residents in the Park County town of Lake George began picking up the pieces Monday, a day after a tornado ripped through a recreational vehicle park, destroying six RVs. The twister also toppled light poles, snapped power lines and uprooted trees – leaving hundreds without power until early Monday morning.

“We’re a tight-bound community; everyone is chipping in however they can,” said Lake George Fire Chief Dutch Kleinhesselink. “We were all shaken up after the tornado came down, but thankfully no one was hurt and that’s what matters.”

Eight tornadoes touched down in Colorado on Sunday – two within minutes of each other in Park County, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder. The first struck about 11 a.m. in Fairplay and damaged the roof of a house near U.S. 285, while the second hit the Lake George Cabins & RV Park area about 15 minutes later, prompting countywide reverse 911 warning calls.

Two houses in the area of County Road 370 and County Road 90 were severely damaged and one is uninhabitable, said Park County spokeswoman Linda Balough.

In the RV park, the main office was deemed unsafe from the tornado’s damage, as were two cabins, and a half-dozen RVs that were lifted off the ground, flipped and thrown on their sides, Balough said.

Said resident Steve Plutt: “The RV park wasn’t just for weekend campers. People actually lived there full time and now they have no homes.”

North of the lake, Forest Road 271 remained closed Monday as a damaged camper had to be removed from the area and several downed trees and debris blocked the roadway, said South Park Ranger District spokeswoman Dusty Romero.

“It’s going to be quite a while until that road is reopened, but the camper’s occupant got out safely, and that’s the silver lining,” Romero said. Forest Road 215 also is closed, Romero said.

Park County residents are not unfamiliar with tornadoes, but they are rare. In August 2009, a small tornado touched down over Lake George and swirled into a water spout that lingered for nearly 20 minutes. Sunday’s tornado stuck around for about the same time, moving slowly and giving residents in the area the time they needed to find shelter.

“There are no sirens out here, because this really doesn’t happen very often,” Kleinhesselink said. “But the reverse 911 calls really helped and alerted people to get to a safe spot.”

As many as 600 people went without power in and around Lake George for more than 12 hours from 1 p.m. Sunday to about 1:30 a.m. Monday, said Intermountain Electric Rural Association corporate affairs manager Mike Kopp, when light poles broke from the wind’s force and power lines were brought down.

“Three poles and their power lines had to be replaced because of damage from the storms and tornado,” Kopp said. “Our crews worked through the day and night to bring power back to all of our customers as quickly as we could.”

Kleinhesselink said damage assessments were underway and property owners were waiting for insurance representatives to arrive so they could begin filing claims. Meanwhile, he said, the community was rallying together and residents were helping anyone impacted by Sunday’s tornado.

“Loss of life is the only thing that you can’t fix,” Kleinhesselink said. “All we have to do is clean up and get back to business.”

Shane Stiving with Alpine Towing helps to upright an RV owned by Mike Fandrei at the Lake George Cabins and RV Park Monday June 9, 2014. A tornado severely damaged six of the seven motor homes at the park Sunday morning including Fandrei’s who drove in his RV with two friends from Detroit to fish for a few weeks. They were not in the RV when it flipped. Carol Lawrence/The Gazette

CAROL LAWRENCE,THE GAZETTE