Thread: Colorado flooding: Deadly rains break record set in 1919

Colorado flooding: Deadly rains break record set in 1919

Residents stand above a road washed out near Lyons, Colo. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

By Jenny DeamSeptember 12, 2013, 9:06 p.m.

BOULDER, Colo. - Unrelenting rain that swamped this city and much of the state’s heavily populated corridor from Wyoming to New Mexico shattered records Thursday as officials warned the storms weren’t over.

In Boulder, 7.21 inches of rain fell in just more than 15 hours, from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 9:15 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service said. That was 50% more than the previous record set in 1919 - 4.8 inches within 24 hours.

Heavy rain was forecast for Boulder and Larimer counties Thursday night, and even more was predicted for Friday. More than two dozen roads were closed because of flooding or collapse. Floodwaters cut off the towns of Lyons and Jamestown, with at least one highway buckled in the area.

A major artery between Boulder and Denver closed just after evening rush hour as water threatened to wash cars off the road. The same highway, U.S. 36, had closed between Lyons and Estes Park earlier in the day.

Highway 93 connecting Golden to Boulder was also closed.

President Obama declared the area a disaster Thursday night.

The flooding was exacerbated by recent wildfires that had cleared much vegetation from forestland.

The death toll had reached three, and authorities feared it would go higher. The Boulder Sheriff’s Department said witnesses reported seeing a woman fall from her car and get swept away. A man who tried to rescue her was confirmed dead, and she is missing, authorities said. One person was killed in Colorado Springs and another in Jamestown.

Few places on the Front Range were spared for hundreds of miles. Evacuation orders were issued for parts of Longmont and Loveland. And just after noon, thousands of residents of Commerce City, a suburb northeast of Denver, were ordered evacuated when a retention pond overflowed. Later, more evacuations were ordered when a dam broke in a wildlife area northeast of Denver.

Heavy flooding also was reported in Aurora, where traffic was snarled throughout the day. Several major exits off Interstate 70 were closed because of deep, rushing water.

Residents across the region remained hunkered down as day turned to night. Some watched with dread as water began to seep over porches and into homes.

Emergency officials asked people to stay home Thursday night because the threat of deep water on roads was impossible to gauge in the darkness.

A group of fearful parents spent part of Thursday waiting for word of their children, who were stranded at an outdoor educational camp near Jamestown. Katy Human, whose fifth-grade son is at the camp, got a text alert in the afternoon that all children were safe and had plenty of food and water, but a culvert at the base of the access road had washed out.

Although she wants her son home, she told the Los Angeles Times: "I want the kids to stay put, where they're safe. I don't want anyone rushing them home, risking dangerous roads."

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-colorado-flooding-nightfall-20130912,0,945098.story

Entire Colorado town evacuating



'We have to get to each and every one of you!'

The National Guard is sent in to rescue the 2,000 people of Lyons, Colorado, from devastating flooding. FULL STORY

• Nail-biter rescue caught on tape
• Photos: Flash floods hit Colorado
• Are you there? Send photos, videos

Boulder, Colo., bolts, as 30-foot ‘surge of water, mud, rocks’ slides toward city

By Cheryl K. Chumley
The Washington Times
Friday, September 13, 2013

• Enlarge Photo
  Residence of an apartment house work to divert flood water from their ... more >

Video:

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  Runtime: 01:33Raw: Colorado Floods Force Thousands to Flee

Several Colorado communities entered red-flag, near-panic mode early Friday, as the National Guard began evacuating the entire town of Lyons, and high-mobility vehicles were sent to relocate nearly 2,000 people to safety.

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told CNN that the “devastating storm” has dumped at least 6 inches of rainwater on the area in the last 19 hours, and forecasts for the near future weren’t much better.

A 30-foot deep “surge of water, mud, rocks and debris” was making its way toward the boundary lines of the city, and area residents were ordered to seek out higher ground, one official said, in an NBC report. A witness reported the surge around the midnight hour, and told Boulder Office of Emergency Management that the water appeared to be sweeping up cars and carrying them along.

The National Weather Service, meanwhile, said the surge was “potentially life threatening,” NBC said.
At least 4,000 residents were ordered to leave, and another 4,000 given a strong recommendation to find temporary shelter.
The past day’s flooding left three dead, NBC reported.
“This … is not an ordinary disaster,” Sheriff Pelle said, in reference to walls of water that were tearing at mountainsides and canyons, The Associated Press reported. “All the preparations in the world … can’t put people up those canyons while these walls of water are coming down.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...#ixzz2eoFCbOyR

Voice of America See realtime coverage

Fourth flood death confirmed as Colorado gets more rain USA TODAY - ‎20 minutes ago‎ Authorities say 80 still not accounted for though not yet considered missing. colorado floods. . .

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