Rain that fell at nearly 2 inches an hour in places destroyed buildings, devastated highways and caused massive mud, tree and boulder slides this weekend.
Horse Creek, a stream that normally is a few feet deep, became a raging torrent 25 to 30 feet deep and 300 feet wide Friday night and caused severe damage to Colorado 67 between Westcreek and Deckers, said Jamie Moore, Douglas County emergency management director.
The floodwaters caused significant damage to three buildings and frightened area residents who awoke Saturday morning to the sound of boulders the size of cars being tossed down the swollen stream.
“It freaked me out,” said Jennifer Ratliff, 28, who was staying in a cabin near the flood area.
She said boulders were banging down the creek, which had risen so high that she could see white-water waves rolling downstream and huge trees floating like twigs.
In Westcreek, one cabin had water halfway up the living room windows, and dead trout, logs and other debris littered the interior.
Torrential rains in the past week have saturated the ground in a number of Front Range locations, primarily in southern Jefferson County and Douglas County, according to Kyle Fredin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
As of 7 a.m. Saturday, the latest time for which figures were available, the storm had dumped 1.5 inches of rain on south Lakewood, 1.25 inches in Conifer and nearly 2 inches in Deckers.
Areas farther south also have received significant rainfall. A storm Monday washed out Colorado 115 south of Penrose.
As of 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Horse Creek was rising again during steady rain, but not to the levels it reached Friday.
Fredin said he expected an average of 0.5-inch of rain to fall in portions of Park, Douglas, Jefferson and Elbert counties Saturday night.
Gov. Bill Owens on Saturday declared a disaster emergency in counties affected by flooding. The declaration allows for state and federal assistance.
Brent Cain, 44, who works at Platte Valley Liquors in Deckers, said some structures that escaped the wrath of the Hayman fire in 2002 – the largest wildfire in Colorado history at about 138,000 acres – “got nailed by the flood.”
Cain said one woman escaped from the rising Horse Creek by scrambling up the side of a hill. Firefighters rescued her. He said firefighters also came to the aide of a drunk who was wandering perilously close to the raging creek.
Closer to Denver, a large boulder fell on U.S. 6 west of Tunnel 2 in Clear Creek Canyon, as the torrential rain hammered the saturated ground in Jefferson, Douglas, Park and Elbert counties.
The boulder landed on the car of Tomasz Heczko, 26, who had gone rock climbing with a friend.
As he returned to his car, he saw emergency vehicles where he had parked his gold 1999 Toyota Camry.
He thought his car had been towed but learned it was crushed beneath the boulder.
“I was so shocked and panicked,” he said. “I’m going to the salvage yard tomorrow, cut the car into pieces and see if I can get my phone and my CDs. It’s going to be hard to find a new car.”
U.S. 6 closed about 10 a.m. and reopened Saturday evening.
Despite the storm, which the National Weather Service said dumped almost 2 inches on Deckers in one hour, no deaths or injuries were reported.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ron Hanavan said the hills around Horse Creek were spotted with burned pine trees from the Hayman fire. He said that because there were no live roots to hold the rain, the water rushed downhill. He added that the ground was already saturated from days of rain.
During the storm, 86 homes received reverse-911 calls warning people to get to higher ground, and deputies went from home to home to warn residents as well.
Gary Heller, maintenance supervisor for the Colorado Department of Transportation, viewed the devastation and said Horse Creek obliterated Colorado 67. The expense of reconstruction is going to be considerable, he said.
“It’s past my imagination, let’s put it in that context,” Heller said. “I’ve worked every one of those floods since the Hayman fire – that was actually my area of responsibility – and this is worse by five times.”
He said there were 15 spots in a 4-mile stretch of Colorado 67 between Deckers and Westcreek where the water washed out one or both lanes.
The road there is going to be closed indefinitely.
“And when I say washed out, there is anywhere from a 10- to 15-foot drop from the edge of the pavement down to the river,” Heller said. “There are washouts, drainage structure plugs, the shoulders have been destroyed and material carried down the highway.”
The rain caused dead and live trees to be pulled down the hillsides along with “tons of mud” and large boulders. He said many private bridges, which crossed the creek from the highway to private homes on the other side, were washed away.
“It is going to take some major reconstruction to fix this,” Heller said.
The forecast calls for more rain today, but conditions are expected to dry out by mid-week.
Staff writer Brandon Lowrey contributed to this report.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
