Three dead as Colorado floods worsen, smashing rainfall records

Flooding that killed at least three people in Colorado, toppling buildings and stranding drivers, worsened overnight as record rains pounded the state, forcing thousands more residents to flee to higher ground, officials said. The unusual late-summer downpours drenched Colorado’s biggest urban centers, stretching 130 miles along the eastern slopes of the Rockies from Fort Collins near the Wyoming border south through Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs. In Boulder, the rainfall record for September set in 1940 was shattered, officials said, unleashing surging floodwaters in Boulder Canyon above the city that triggered the evacuation of some 4,000 residents late on Thursday. "There’s so much water coming out of the canyon, it has to go somewhere, and unfortunately it’s coming into the city," said Ashlee Herring, spokeswoman for the Boulder office of Emergency Management. Boulder Creek, which runs through the heart of the city, became a raging torrent that burst its banks and flooded adjacent parking lots and streets as warning sirens wailed.