Colorado Peeps--Everyone OK?

[pbarry]

Hoping all here are safe and dry.

Image is of the pasture just west of the driveway to the public utility where I work. Lefthand Creek has overflowed and is spreading far and wide--Nimbus Road is now a tributary. We could not get the trucks down the driveway.

[sitzmark]

Lowlands are not the place to be. Started the day in Boulder with water rushing through the streets, and then on to Longmont where the St. Vrain completely divides the city. Won't be good riding for a while in Boulder county- lots of debris on the roadways .... at least those that aren't fully submerged.

Hope all are well.

[cloudguy]

Haven't been able to ride since Tuesday, and it looks like all the local climbs will be washed out for a while now - Jamestown and Lyons are just wiped, and I hate to think about 4-mile - haven't heard anything about that area yet.

[pbarry]

It's mayhem out there. The new bridge at North 63rd Street and Bluebird was just closed. My dog walking path on the property is now a healthy stream. Nearby developments have been evacuated. Thankfully, we're high and dry just 1/2 mile away. At least 8 earthen dams are overflowing, but still holding. Definitely one for the records.

[Wilkinson4]

Just steady rain down in Castle Rock... Nothing like up there, looks terrible.

mIKE

[kenw]

about 1-1/2 inches total since Tuesday evening. At last report, Rist and Poudre canyons are both closed. Lots of debris runoff from last yearʻs fires.

[jtakeda]

Whoa.... I don't keep up with the news much and didnt hear about this until the "is old potatoe okay" thread popped up.

That's some major floodage, glad to hear y'all are okay.

[Louis]

Meanwhile to the east in St Louis, in the last month I've had only 0.3 inches of rain at my house, and the plants and trees are showing the stress big-time. So far it hasn't been as bad as last year's major drought, but we'll see how long it will be until we get something. Hopefully it won't be 2" in just one night.

[tmf]

Boulder folks still OK? Looks like the flooding has gotten even worse since yesterday.

[John Price]

The news last night was showing some pretty nasty stuff a few blocks north of us and there were several road closings north as well.

We had a bit of water in our basement (come up through the storm drain I think) but nothing serious at all.

I saw too that a good chunk of Peak to Peak highway got washed out - too bad as that's a beautiful drive that we typically do in the Lotus with the top down on a Sunday in the Fall.

Bad too for those in Boulder, Ft Collins, Lyons... I feel for all those people that have to evacuate...

John
Lucky really.

[GT2R]

We went through a 1000 year flood in Tennessee several years back. Scary stuff indeed. Be safe and hope no one loses anything.

[oldpotatoe]

Boulder folks still OK? Looks like the flooding has gotten even worse since yesterday.

Around Boulder Creek, really ugly..said flow of the creek 20 times normal and from a creek about 10 ft across to 10 times that. Where I am, North and east of Broadway, around 28th..all OK. Some local flooding in intersections but receding now fairly quickly. Altho they said 'centered' around Boulder, Lyons, Estes Park, Niwot, Longmont hit much worse..

This afternoon, clearing and drying..storm moving east/north. The worst seems over..

Saw a couple of parents with 2 year olds right next to a roaring Boulder Creek, gawking, really dumb.

[GRAVELBIKE]

Here in Superior/Louisville, one of our skylights has been leaking off/on. Went down to the basement to check on the sump, and it's DOA. Lots of standing water, but it's slowly receding. Most, if not all routes to work (in Boulder) are closed-down.

[oldpotatoe]

Here in Superior/Louisville, one of our skylights has been leaking off/on. Went down to the basement to check on the sump, and it's DOA. Lots of standing water, but it's slowly receding. Most, if not all routes to work (in Boulder) are closed-down.

36 from 287 to Boulder is open..wife coming home now, friend just drove in..past Boulder, west, 36 closed tho.

[gdw]

We've taken a beating in the lower Chautauqua area of Boulder. A culvert failed yesterday morning near 15th Street and Mariposa and an infamous "torrent of water" swept 15-20 cars a couple of blocks down the road. Quite a few of the houses in the area have severe water damage and some might have been hit by boulders swept down the road.

Our backyard had about 2-4 inches of silt and dirt swept into it Wednesday night and we now have a stream between our house and the neighbors. Yesterday afternoon we built barriers at the end of our street in an attempt to channel the water streaming down Mariposa into the overwhelmed drainage system and protect our homes. The barriers survived the night and probably saved a few basements from flooding.

Its really been interesting seeing how the neighborhood responded to the disaster. Most of the long time residents helped build the main barrier and several we erected to protect individual homes. Others supplied tools and the garbage bags we used for sandbags. We had some CU students who live several blocks away in areas which weren't impacted assist us as well.

[weisan]

http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/09/12/Coloado_university_boulder_flooding_620x350.jpg

[weisan]

http://www.toledoblade.com/image/2013/07/02/800x600_b1_cCM/Colorado-Flooding-1.jpg

[weisan]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BT-vtLFCIAAtb9g.jpg:large

[pbarry]

We have six main water lines washed out. The eastern part of Boulder/Western Weld Counties look like Wisonsin lakes and the Mississipi. Zigzagged avoiding closed roads all day trying to get to valves so customers could stay "in water", meaning drinkable water from their taps. Lookie loos were our worst obstacle.

[cloudguy]

http://photos.denverpost.com/2013/09/14/video-flooding-in-colorado-devastates-salina-four-mile-canyon/

[cloudguy]

Just rode up to the mouth of Left Hand canyon. The guard said there are multiple stretches of road that are completely gone. The same goes for all of the canyon roads up to Estes and probably Boulder canyon as well. It will probably be months before you can ride or drive these roads again. :(

[xjoex]

I'm up in Ned, we have no real damage compared to Boulder. The local roads are muddy as hell, but again nothing compared to Boulder. The boulder canyon is closed, along with all the other ways down the mountain. The only way out is to head all the way down to blackhawk and I-70.

Hope all the Boulder folks are dry!

-Joe

[pbarry]

http://photos.denverpost.com/2013/09/14/video-flooding-in-colorado-devastates-salina-four-mile-canyon/

Thanks for the link. I was born down the hill in Crisman. Expect it's under water or was. Storm was easier on the flats, with much less damage. Puts it all in perspective.

[mgm777]

My wife and I took a stroll around Boulder today. Had some coffee on Pearl Street. Our home and family was unharmed. Some of our friends weren't as fortunate. We helped friends move furniture around today. Some houses have 8 feet of water in the basement. Lots of flood damage, debris, blocked roadways and paths everywhere. The photo below is of Flagstaff Rd. I rode this last weekend. My friend, who works for the County took this picture. Won't be riding the canyons for awhile, unfortunately.

[pbarry]

This was once the finish line of the Boulder-Roubaix, at 39th and Oxford today. Lefthand Creek is the new race organizer:

[thenewguy11]

Anyone know what kind of shape Golden and Lookout Mtn are in?

[kenw]

The South Platte River flows thru Greeley, and the Poudre, Big Thompson, and
St. Vrain rivers all dump their waters into it, and all three were/are significantly above flood stage. What was that Johnny Cash song?: "How highʻs the water, Mama?"

[cloudguy]

That's my goto lunch-time ride! I ride that climb at least once a week all year round. This is a nightmare that won't end, and my problems are the least of anyone's.

[nbl78s]

Unbelievable, I lived in Boulder for most of the 90's and its hard to imagine what you guys are going through. The pictures I've seen just blow me away! Wishing the best to all those affected.

[jonnyBgood]

Pretty crazy storm the last four days. The storm basically came from the south through Aurora, which got hit just as hard as Boulder and split around Denver then on to Boulder. The wired thing is that it would slow down at night and then hit again during the day for four days.

I've been in Colorado for 17 years and have never seen it rain this much. Average rain fall for the year in Denver area is 17.07" and the last few days we have gotten 13".

We now live in Parker and it rained and hailed yesterday for about an hour...lots of standing water. Went to some friends in Highlands Ranch (10 miles away) and it didn't rain one drop. Sitting on there deck we could see the storm over Parker.

[RacerJRP]

Raining pretty damn hard again here in Broomfield. Just pedaled some of the roads up Four mile and lefthand last weekend that don't exist anymore. Crazy.

One of my co-workers who recently moved to Boulder had 5ft of water in her apt. Her refrigerator was floating...

[cloudguy]

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_24100959/video-from-jamestown-this-is-where-creek-has

Anyone have a good estimate as to how long it will take to repair the roads in these canyons? Because they are so many affected areas, I'm guessing 6-9 months, but maybe that's way off?

[Wilkinson4]

This really hit home while watching the news tonight. I am south of where most of the damage has been. This very hard to wrap my mind around.

6 dead
708 people unaccounted for
11,700 displaced

17,494 homes damaged
1,502 home destroyed

30 State Hwy Bridges destroyed
20 State Hwy Bridges with severe damage

mIKE

[GRAVELBIKE]

Post-flood ramblings:

http://www.gravelbike.com/?p=2351