Some of the largest causalities of the December windstorm — the towering trees that toppled over, exposing huge root plates — could be some of the longest lingering damage around town.

The plates, with their heavy masses of roots and soil, pose a challenge to Colorado Springs crews who are not exactly sure yet how to take down some of the largest ones, said Dennis Will, city forester. The city needs to clean up between 60 to 80 uplifted root balls, and the largest might require a crane, he said.

The uplifted roots, however, are a low priority among about 150 outstanding tree maintenance tasks crews still needed to work on earlier this week, he said. Workers are still prioritizing safety issues, such as branches hanging in canopies, he said.

The city’s nine professional arborists expect to be working on storm cleanup for the next two to three months, Will said.

In total, Will said he expects the eight-hour storm will cost the department four months of labor.

The full cost of the storm, much of it paid for by private citizens, who faced car and home damage, is difficult to estimate. It did not reach the level of a catastrophic amount for insured losses, said Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association. Storms must cause $25 million in insured losses to be considered catastrophic.

The largest public bill may have been paid by Colorado Springs Utilities, who spent $3 million on windstorm recovery. The agency’s costs included repairing 101 downed wooden power poles and 248 wires, for a total 6.2 miles of line, among other damage.

So far, city forestry has spent $43,000 in labor and equipment as the department has whittled down a cleanup list that included 523 tree-related issues, such as downed limbs, dangerous limbs hanging in canopies, and tree removals.

The list is likely not all inclusive, Will said, because it is just a count of tree damage called in by residents and does not include issues identified by staff.

Progress has also been slowed a bit by COVID-19 because forestry staff members have been out ill or needed to quarantine.

“We would urge the citizens to have patience and understanding. … We are literally swamped,” Will said.

He noted wind damage on private property is the responsibility of the owner and residents should not dump slash into right of ways or at Monument Valley Park for city staff to handle.

In addition to trees, the extraordinary winds damaged 120 city streets signs that had to be repaired or replaced, carrying a cost of about $10,000, said Corey Farkas, public works, operations and maintenance division manager. The division that supported forestry, police and fire in the immediate aftermath of the storm spent $77,697 total on it, including the cost for signs. Some of that work included debris cleanup as his staff helped forestry with downed trees.

Most of the damage was in central, older parts of town with some of the tallest trees. The Old North End Neighborhood estimates residents lost around 200 trees, president Dutch Schulz said. Fortunately, only a few of them significantly damaged homes, he said.

The Colorado College campus lost 48 trees and they have all been cleaned up, said Stephanie Wurtz, a spokeswoman for the campus.

All the debris created a boost in business for some, including Rocky Top Resources, a wood recycling facility.

More than six weeks after the storm, the large influx of trees and branches from residents and contractors to be turned into mulch has tapered off, Vice President Jared Martin said.

“It seems to be on the very back end,” he said.

The loads coming into the southern Colorado Springs business in recent weeks had been on par with the summer season following the storm, and the stack of branches waiting to be mulched hit 25 feet, Martin said.

Based on those loads, most of the trees damaged or downed by the storm — about 75% — were blue spruce. The trees may not have fared well in the high winds because of their shallow root systems, he said.

Residents who have put off cleaning up wind damaged trees can drop off a load of yard waste at Rocky Top for $5 on Saturdays, he said.