Stars and Bars RestorationOn Sunday afternoon, September 13, a severe thunderstorm rolled up out of southeastern Las Animas County packing 60 mph wind gusts and quarter-size hail, and NWS Pueblo issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning at 4:34 PM that stayed in effect until 5:00 PM, covering southeastern Las Animas County. The warning text was blunt about what was coming: "Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees." A few hours earlier, a Special Weather Statement had already flagged a separate cell moving through southern Otero and central Las Animas counties with 40 mph gusts and penny-size hail.
If you're in Trinidad, Aguilar, or anywhere along the Highway 12 or I-25 corridor through Las Animas County and you heard hail hitting your roof Sunday afternoon, you're not imagining the damage — and you're not the only one dealing with it this week.
What Quarter-Size Hail Actually Does to a House
People hear "quarter-size hail" and picture a few dings in the gutters. In practice, quarter-inch-plus hail moving at storm speed is enough to:
- Crack or bruise asphalt shingles, breaking the granule seal that keeps water out — damage that often doesn't show up as a leak for weeks
- Dent soft metals on vents, flashing, and AC units, which can compromise seals around roof penetrations
- Punch through window screens and crack window panes, especially on the west- and south-facing sides that caught the brunt of Sunday's wind
- Strip siding and paint, exposing sheathing to moisture
- Knock branches into roofs and power lines, which is how a hailstorm turns into a water damage call a day or two later when a compromised roof finally lets rain through
The tricky part with hail is that a lot of the real damage is invisible from the ground. Damage that looks like nothing from the driveway can turn out to be fractured shingle mats once someone gets up on the roof and looks closely — which is why a hailstorm often becomes a water damage call a week or two later, not the same day.
Why the Timing Matters This Week
Southeastern Colorado runs an active storm pattern through late summer, and Sunday's cell was not the first hail of the season to move across the county. If your roof or siding took a hit in an earlier storm this summer and then got hit again on the 13th, the cumulative damage is worse than any single event would suggest, and it's exactly the kind of thing an insurance adjuster will ask about: which storm caused which crack?
That's one more reason not to wait. The longer hail damage sits unaddressed, the more likely a follow-up rain event turns a cosmetic roof problem into actual water intrusion — soaked insulation, stained ceilings, and the start of mold growth in an attic nobody's checked in months.
What to Do This Week If You're in Trinidad or Las Animas County
1. Document everything now, from the ground and safely from a ladder if you have one. Photos of hail on the ground next to a coin or ruler for scale help establish size for an insurance claim. Get wide shots of the roof, gutters, siding, and any vehicles that were outside.
2. Check your attic for water stains, even if you don't see obvious roof damage. A cracked shingle doesn't always leak the same day — sometimes it takes the next rain.
3. Don't let a door-knocking storm chaser rush you into a roof contract. Southeastern Colorado sees a wave of out-of-town roofing crews after every hail event. Get a second opinion from a local company that will still be here in six months if the repair has a problem.
4. Call your insurance company and start the claim before you make any permanent repairs, but do put a tarp over any active leak — insurers expect you to prevent further damage, and we can help with emergency tarping and board-up if needed.
5. If you already see water coming in, don't wait on the roofer. Water damage on the inside of your home — soaked drywall, sagging ceiling tile, wet insulation — needs to be dried out within 24 to 48 hours to avoid mold. That's where we come in.
We're Already Set Up to Respond in Las Animas County
Stars and Bars Restoration is IICRC certified and veteran-owned, and we've been doing storm and water damage work throughout southeastern Colorado — including fire and smoke damage restoration in Trinidad and Las Animas County earlier this year. If Sunday's hail led to a leak, a soaked ceiling, or wind damage that let water in, we can get a crew out for water extraction, structural drying, and repairs.
If you're dealing with a denied or lowballed hail claim, we've also put together a guide on what to do when a Colorado hail damage insurance claim gets denied — it walks through how adjusters evaluate hail damage and what documentation actually moves a claim forward.
And if this hail event turns into a roof leak that isn't obvious yet, our general guide on hail damage and roof leaks in Pueblo and Colorado Springs covers the same warning signs that apply just as much in Trinidad — cracked shingles, granule loss in the gutters, and water stains that show up days after the storm.
Call Us Before the Next Storm Rolls Through
Southeastern Colorado's monsoon pattern isn't done yet this season, and Las Animas County has already taken three separate hail hits since mid-August. If Sunday's storm left your roof compromised, getting ahead of it now — before the next system moves through — is a lot cheaper than dealing with a full water damage restoration later.
Call Stars and Bars Restoration at (719) 676-2456 for a damage assessment. We're a veteran-owned, IICRC-certified crew based in Colorado City, and we cover Trinidad and all of Las Animas County. If you already have standing water or an active leak, that same number gets you our 24/7 emergency line — day or night.