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Colorado officials order further evacuations as flash floods worsen Colorado flash floods: officials order further evacuations as rains continue
(about 2 hours later)
With rain still falling and the flood threat still real, authorities called on thousands more people in the inundated city of Boulder and a mountain hamlet to evacuate as nearby creeks rose to dangerous levels. Thousands more people were ordered to evacuate their homes in Boulder on Friday as rain continued to cause severe flooding in the city and elsewhere in Colorado.
The late-night reports from Boulder and the village of Eldorado Springs came as rescuers struggled to reach dozens of people cut off by flooding in Colorado mountain communities, while residents in the Denver area and other downstream communities were warned to stay off flooded streets. Several creeks close to Boulder rose to dangerous levels late Thursday, after rain forced many residents from their homes the night before. At least three people have been killed in Colorado, and thousands more have been forced to seek refuge in shelters.
The towns of Lyons, Jamestown and others in the Rocky Mountain foothills have been isolated by flooding and without power or working telephones since rain hanging over the region all week intensified late Wednesday and early Thursday. Rescuers are struggling to reach people in the towns of Lyons, Jamestown and others in the Rocky Mountain foothills, while some homes and streets in Denver, 25 miles southeast of Boulder, have also been flooded.
At least three people were killed and another was missing, and numerous people were forced to seek shelter up and down Colorado's populated Front Range. Late Thursday night, warning sirens blared in Boulder and city officials sent notice to about 4,000 people living along Boulder Creek, telling them to head for higher ground, according to Boulder's Daily Camera newspaper. Boulder County spokesman James Burrus told the Associated Press that about 8,000 telephones were called with the message to evacuate, but that officials aren't sure how many individuals that represented.
Late Thursday night, warning sirens blared in Boulder and city officials sent notice to about 4,000 people living along Boulder Creek around the mouth of Boulder Canyon to head for higher ground, according to Boulder's Daily Camera newspaper. Many Boulder residents had already been forced to flee after streets and homes were inundated in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The alert was prompted by rapidly rising creek levels caused by water backing up at the mouth of the canyon because of debris and mud coming off the mountainsides, the city Office of Emergency Management said. Keivan Moallemi told the Guardian the floods left his apartment in Boulder under four feet of water.
The creek began to recede after midnight, but the conditions remain dangerous and a surprising amount of water is still flowing into the city's streets, Police Chief Mark Beckner told the Daily Camera after touring the damage. "I noticed it at around 1.40am," Moallemi said. "My roommate had gone to bed and I was watching a movie. I went to stand up and I noticed around a couple of inches of water throughout our entire apartment. Our neighbours on the other side of us in the same building had gotten around three feet or so in their apartment by that point, and the water was starting to seep through the walls. It was coming out of the walls, it was coming out of the electrical sockets."
Early Friday, Boulder County spokesman James Burrus said the entire hamlet of Eldorado Springs, about 500 people, was urged to evacuate because of a flash flood and mudslide threat along South Boulder Creek. Moallemi, a 23-year-old online student who moved to Boulder in January, said he woke his roommate and they started salvaging what they could. He managed to load his laptop and a few other small items into a car, but within 35 minutes the water went from "ankle high to about three feet high".
Best pic of the #Boulderflood—the bike path: pic.twitter.com/qKkddS6pyA
Roads to the south of Boulder were closed due to the extensive flooding, so Moallemi drove out of Boulder to the north to stay with friends. When he returned to the apartment late on Thursday the water had receded but the damage was widespread.
"The water was really, really dirty," Moallemi said. "There was maybe a centimetre, maybe a little more of mud and silt all over the floor, all over our couch, all over the countertops, everything. It's insane."
Moallemi said he was going to return to the apartment again on Friday to try and salvage some of his possessions.
Early Friday, Boulder County spokesman James Burrus said the entire hamlet of Eldorado Springs, including about 500 people, was urged to evacuate because of a flash flood and mudslide threat along South Boulder Creek.
In Fort Collins, neighborhoods along the Cache La Poudre River were evacuated overnight, with the river expected to rise to nearly 2ft above flood stage Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.In Fort Collins, neighborhoods along the Cache La Poudre River were evacuated overnight, with the river expected to rise to nearly 2ft above flood stage Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
City officials in Fort Collins closed bridges after water began topping Seaman Reservoir in the Poudre Canyon, the Denver Post reported. The city warned residents to stay clear of the river. City officials in Fort Collins closed bridges after water began topping Seaman Reservoir in the Poudre Canyon, the Denver Post reported, and the city warned residents to stay clear of the river.
In Lyons, residents took shelter on higher ground, including some at an elementary school. Although everyone was believed to be safe, the deluge was expected to continue into Friday. One person was killed when a structure collapsed in Jamestown, northwest of Boulder. Another man drowned in flood waters north of Boulder early Thursday and a woman who was with him went missing. She was swept away after the vehicle she was driving got stuck in water.
"There's no way out of town. There's no way into town. So, basically, now we're just on an island," said Jason Stillman, 37, who was forced with his fiancee to evacuate their home in Lyons at about 3am after a nearby river began to overflow into the street. The man died after getting out of the vehicle to help her, Commander Heidi Prentup of the Boulder sheriff's office said.
The Colorado National Guard began trucking people out of Lyons on Thursday evening. In Lyons, residents took shelter on higher ground, including at an elementary school. Although everyone was believed to be safe, the deluge was expected to continue into Friday. The Colorado National Guard began trucking people out of Lyons Thursday evening.
To the north, residents along the Big Thompson Canyon in Larimer County, scene of the deadliest flash flood in state history, were also evacuated. The Big Thompson River flooded in 1976 after about a foot of rain fell in just four hours, killing 144 people. "There's no way out of town. There's no way into town. So, basically, now we're just on an island," said Jason Stillman, 37, who was forced with his fiancee to evacuate their Lyons home at about 3am after a nearby river began to overflow into the street.
Early Friday, the National Weather Service warned of more flash flooding in Loveland, according to the Post. NOAA reported that the Big Thompson River at Drake was more than 4ft above its flood stage of 6ft.
Water roaring across US Highway 36, south of Lyons, prevented residents from leaving the Crestview subdivision, so Howard Wachtel arranged for someone to meet him at a roadblock for a ride to a gas station. He needed more gasoline to keep his generator running so he could pump water out of his basement.
"This is more like something out of the Bible. I saw one of my neighbors building an ark," he joked over the sound of the rushing water.
President Obama signed an emergency declaration Thursday night, freeing federal aid and allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
The rain has been produced by a low pressure system that has been stationed over Nevada since late Sunday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Dankers in Boulder.
The low has drawn subtropical moisture from the Mexican mainland over New Mexico and into the Rockies' foothills in Colorado – and it's been trapped by a stationary upper level ridge over the Great Plains and another system over the Great Lakes, Dankers said. The moisture becomes rain when it hits the mountains, the end result of a system he described as "a monsoon conveyer belt".
So-called monsoon rains common to Colorado usually occur in late July and August and are typically brief events that provide welcome moisture to a normally sunny, arid state.
Some of the flooding was exacerbated by wildfire "burn scars" that have spawned flash floods all summer in the mountains. That was particularly true in an area scarred by fire in 2010 near the tiny community of Jamestown and another near Colorado Springs' Waldo Canyon that was hit in 2012.
Rain is normally soaked up by a sponge-like layer of pine needles and twigs on the forest floor. But wildfires incinerate that layer and leave a residue in the top layer of soil that sheds water. A relatively light rain can rush down charred hillsides into streambeds, picking up dirt, ash, rocks, and tree limbs along the way. Narrow canyons aggravate the threat.
The University of Colorado canceled classes at least through Friday after a quarter of its buildings were flooded. Students in family housing near Boulder Creek were also forced to leave.
One person was killed when a structure collapsed in the tiny town of Jamestown northwest of Boulder. Another man drowned in floodwaters north of Boulder early Thursday and a woman who was with him was missing.
The woman was swept away after the vehicle she was riding in got stuck in water. The man died after getting out of the vehicle to help her, Commander Heidi Prentup of the Boulder Sheriff's Office said.
A firefighter that had been trapped in a tree in Lefthand Canyon by flooding was rescued and treated, she said.
To the south, Colorado Springs police conducting flood patrols found the body of 54-year-old Danny Davis in Fountain Creek on the west side of the city.
At least one earthen dam gave way southeast of Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Water levels could rise downstream as authorities release more water to ease pressure on dams. With debris piling up near bridges, downstream farming areas including Fort Lupton, Dacono and Plateville were also at risk.
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