After being completely stranded by the rains that have inundated basically every creek and river in Boulder County, Colorado, the town of Lyons, which had been completely cut off as of yesterday, finally began evacuation with the help of the National Guard at dawn today using 21 heavy vehicles capable of fording high waters. Jamestown still remains cut off and stranded, but officials hope weather will improve enough for them to access the area with helicopters soon. As water saturates usually dry and loose canyon walls, severe flash floods have been reported as mudslides have provoked a 20-foot wall of water to cascade down a river north of Boulder. 25 to 30 roads have been closed around Boulder County, with many of them having been washed out completely. Boulder received a record amount of rain, getting 7.21 inches from 6 pm Wednesday and 9 am Thursday. Colorado's 9 News is providing running live coverage of rescue efforts and updates about the flood with streaming vieo.
Flooding in Boulder, Colorado:
Flooding in Longmont, Colorado:
Longmont Before/After #Colorado #Boulderflood #COflood #cowx pic.twitter.com/XD3GvrmDLV
— Al Miller (@AlMiller66) September 12, 2013
Flooding in Longmont between 9th and Mt. View #longmontflood #boulderflood pic.twitter.com/BJRTlWgN2P
— Payton H. Peterson (@PaytonPeterson) September 13, 2013
Meanwhile, flooding has closed a section of I-25 south of Fort Collins:
The view on I-25 south of Fort Collins, via http://t.co/FILIRUjWiL #foco #coloradoflood #boulderflood #coflood pic.twitter.com/wcxVT01JoZ
— Jeff James (@jeffjames3) September 13, 2013
Despite the scarier elements of this episode, some have still found space to keep things light around UC-Boulder, where university officials are debating whether or not to cancel this weekend's football game against Fresno State:
Rain Log: Day 4. We have run out of weed and Cheetos. The remote is looking more and more edible. #boulderflood
— The Rules of College (@RulesOfCollege_) September 13, 2013
· National Guard begins rescuing residents of flood-besieged Lyons, Colorado [CNN]