Colorado Disaster Zone Spreads across 17 Counties

Death toll reaches 8, as Colorado floods destroy or damage thousands of homes

The disaster zone encompasses 17 Colorado counties, as the historic deluge, called a 500-to-1,000-year flood, forces thousands of evacuations.

The Colorado Office of Emergency Management has now raised the official death toll to eight, up from five over the weekend.

In Boulder County about 2,000 people have been evacuated, most of them airlifted by helicopters.

In Larimer County at least 1,000 people remain to be evacuated.

At least 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 4,500 damaged in Larimer County. Additionally, 200 businesses have been lost and 500 damaged.

More than 100 homes were destroyed in the town of Lyons, Boulder County, but no countywide figures were available, as of posting.

About 600 people remained unaccounted for in Larimer and Boulder counties, many believed to be stranded in remote mountain areas cut off by floodwaters and with no access to telephone, cell phone or Internet service, officials said.

Floodwaters are moving east toward Nebraska, where officials have issued multiple flood warnings.

More than 533mm (21 inches) of rain fell in parts of Boulder city, near Denver, during the week-long deluge, nearly twice the area’s average annual rainfall.

Colorado’s air rescue operations were the largest in the United States since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, said National Guard officials.

Fema and Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced yesterday that 12 additional counties had been added to the September 12, 2013, presidential emergency disaster declaration for the Colorado flooding in Boulder, El Paso and Larimer counties.

The additional disaster counties include Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Fremont, Jefferson, Morgan, Logan, Pueblo, Washington and Weld counties, which were affected by the severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides.

Related Links

• “This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood” September 15, 2013

• N. Colorado Declared as Federal Disaster Area September 14, 2013
• Tens of Thousands Evacuated as Colorado Floods Worsen September 13, 2013
• Deadly Flooding Forces Thousands of Evacuations in Colorado September 13, 2013

• Tri- State Area Rainfall Reports (September 12, 2013)
• Flood Evacuation: overflowing dam forces evacuation of Leyden neighborhood in Jefferson County

“This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood”

Torrential rains continue pounding flood-devastated Colorado

More rain has been falling in flood-devastated Colorado for a fifth day.

On Saturday several additional towns along the South Platte River were under mandatory evacuation.

Several areas have received more than 15 inches of rain over three days, an amount more than the annual total average, according to National Weather Service.

“This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood,” said a Weld County commissioner.

“We continue to have new landslides and road collapses,” said a message posted by the Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District, warning trapped residents that rescuers were having difficulty reaching them.

“Rescue crews got a break when the rains let up on Friday, but by Saturday afternoon the rains returned, prompting the National Weather Service to issue flash flood warnings for canyons west of the Denver metro area,” said a report.

“This event has stunned all of us,” U.S. Senator Mark Udall said after touring the devastated area by air with Governor John Hickenlooper and other politicians on Saturday.

Riverbend campground, Storm Mountain near Drake. Credit: Deb Green.

Two of the worst hit areas are Weld County where the swollen St. Vrain, Big Thompson and Cache La Poudre rivers empty into the South Platte River, and Morgan County, further downstream, where the towns of Weldona, Goodrich, Muir Springs and Orchard were under evacuation orders, the report said.

• The disaster zone is larger than 10,000 mi², an area the size of Massachusetts.

• The raging floodwaters have destroyed numerous buildings, roads and bridges in the the disaster areas.

• Flooding has left at least 4 people dead, and a fifth victim, a 60-year-old female, is missing and presumed dead after witnesses saw her home swept away by floodwaters, according to Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.

• About 520 people are still unaccounted for, said Gov. Hickenlooper in a TV interview (the figure includes 350 people in Larimer County and 170 others in Boulder County), and officials have warned the death toll could rise.

Related Links

• N. Colorado Declared as Federal Disaster Area September 14, 2013
• ens of Thousands Evacuated as Colorado Floods Worsen September 13, 2013
• Deadly Flooding Forces Thousands of Evacuations in Colorado September 13, 2013