Mother Nature's beating

I'm sure any of you who've managed to watch the news today have heard about the flooding in Colorado.  We have, once again, my national news thanks to Mother Nature.  I'm lucky that most of the flooding is south of where I am or west into the canyon, but it's been a truly surreal day, nonetheless.  Overnight, mountain dams had broken and rivers and creeks all around the Boulder area started to overflow their banks. We received 6 months worth of rain in less than a day, which is incredible in and of itself, but even more so when you consider the fact that Colorado was in a wildfire-ridden drought for most of the summer.  Like I said, surreal.
 

Boulder bike trail

My morning started a little after 5:00 am with a text from Tony telling me he was on-call to head into work to relieve his boss from her all-night efforts to decrease flood damage in the office.  I don't think I've ever mentioned it before, but Tony works for the town of Lyons, which is a small mountain community northwest of Boulder...and it was pummeled with rain all night long (as was the river that runs through town).  Because I do not have television up in Fort Collins, I hopped online and started reading through the news sites.  The stories were awful: Boulder Creek was rushing like a river and overflowing its banks; a 15-25 foot wall of water had rushed through Boulder's Lefthand Canyon, trapping an emergency responder in a tree; the town of Lyons was surrounded by 3-5 feet of water, essentially turning the town into an island;  and the stories just kept coming all day long, as did the rain.  Needless to say, Lyons' island effect kept Tony from making it into work today; in fact, the town was completely isolated until this evening when the National Guard finally made it in.

Emergency responder in Lyons

It didn't take long for the canyon highways west of Fort Collins to start flooding, including the main road up to Estes Park, which literally collapsed.  Like Lyons, Estes Park has essentially been cut-off: there is currently only one open road in and out of town, and images of Estes' Main Street look more like a river than a street.  I could go on and on about Colorado's flooded out towns, including Colorado Springs and the Denver Metro area, but I think you all get the point.  I almost feel bad that Fort Collins has been effected other than being sopping wet, but then I watch the news stories and talk to Tony, and I feel so grateful.  Mother Nature sure is giving my state a beating!

St Vrain Greenway in Longmont...
normally a park and running trail

For more information and photos, visit 9News.com.