In this image made with a slow shutter speed which blurred the rushing water, flood waters course through a small park in Boulder, Colo., Thursday morning, Sept. 12, 2013. Heavy rains and scarring from recent wildfires sent walls of water crashing down mountainsides in the area.LYONS, Colo. – Heavy rains sent walls of water crashing down mountainsides Thursday in Colorado, cutting off remote towns, forcing the state’s largest university to close and leaving at least three people dead across a rugged landscape that included areas blackened by recent wildfires.
After a rainy week, up to 8 more inches fell in an area spanning from the Wyoming border south to the foothills west of Denver. Flooding extended all along the Front Range mountains and into some cities, including Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Aurora and Boulder.
Numerous roads and highways were washed out or made impassable by floods. Floodwaters poured into homes, and at least a few buildings collapsed in the torrent.
Boulder County appeared to be hardest hit. Sheriff Joe Pelle said the town of Lyons was completely cut off because of flooded roads, and residents were huddling together on higher ground. Although everyone was believed to be safe, the deluge was expected to continue into Friday.
“It is not an ordinary disaster,” Pelle said. “All the preparation in the world … it can’t put people up those canyons while these walls of water are coming down.”