Colorado residents were forced to flee their homes last week as torrential downpours caused flash flooding in several counties throughout the state. According to the Associated Press, eight people have been confirmed dead. The most recent was an 83-year-old man who died after the ground collapsed beneath and was swept away into Clear Creek in Idaho Springs. Colorado officials recovered his body 3 miles downstream. Danny Ploeger, a sophomore in marketing from Broomfield, Colo., said, “My prayers go out to Boulder. I heard about it on Facebook and I called up my parents to make sure they were okay. Thankfully they live far enough away from the mountains that they weren’t really affected by it.” From Monday, Sept. 9, to Sunday, Sept. 15, residents across a stretch of 200 miles along the Colorado Front Range received record amounts of rain. The hardest hit areas, including those in Boulder County recorded up to 18 inches of rain. Amy Gibson, a senior studying psychology from Boulder, Colo. said, “In school they always talked about the 100-year flood, but I never took it seriously. I can’t even begin to imagine what Boulder must look like right now.” Robert Kimbrough, a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Colorado said, “The 100-year flood or storm is an event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.” Water rushed through the streets destroying homes, stranding cars, and leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Residents of Hygiene, Colo., returned to their small community in the foothills to find mud blanketed roads, garages, even the tops of fence posts. The raging St. Vrain River left trucks in ditches and carried items as far as 2 miles downstream. Jaim Harlow, a resident of Boulder, Colo., said he has been fighting to keep his house together. “I’ve been helping my parents keep the house dry since last Wednesday. Our house is on an incline, so all the water coming in has been from the roof gutters. We may have to replace the carpets downstairs, but that’s the only damage.” President Barack Obama declared the flooding a “major disaster” and has authorized federal aid and rescue teams to aid in the rescue of stranded residents. State officials estimate that they’re about 600 people still missing, with a majority of the missing people located in the mountains. Boulder Mayor Matthew Applebaum told CNN on Sept. 16 the city will be dealing with the effects of the flood for years to come.
Writer: Homer Wolman~Multimedia Journalist
