As the Colorado flooding aftermath continues to wage, photos and updated information are shedding light how destructive the record-setting rains actually were. The death toll has unfortunately risen to 8, according to The Weather Channel, including “four dead in Boulder County, two in Larimer County, one in El Paso County and one in Clare Creek County.” Two of those people are technically still missing but the fact that their bodies have yet to be recovered has prompted state officials to presume them dead.
The same source pulled the following facts of the natural disaster, all of which have been updated accordingly:
- “Flood conditions spread across 17 counties
- 1,500 homes destroyed, according to Colo. Office of Emergency Management
- More than 11,750 people evacuated. At least 520 in shelters.
- Thunderstorms possible through Tuesday in flooded areas”
Thousands of people were thought missing but unlike the death toll, that particular tally is on the decline. “The state’s count fell Monday from just over 1,200 to about half that.”
In approximately a two-hour span, 7-inches of rainfall accumulated. To put that in perspective, consider that the average rainfall in Denver, CO for the entire month of September is 1.13 inches, per Weather.com.
18 total inches of rain fell in Boulder County, roughly the average amount of rain Denver sees in an entire year.
President Obama has since aptly declared a state of emergency for all of the counties affected, providing the likes of federal aid, personnel, food, water, generators, and flood control measure to the region. The president also declared Obama also declared a major disaster for Boulder County specifically, similarly providing temporary housing, home repairs, and low-cost loans to those in dire need of it.
You can check out the devastating effect of the flooding in the slideshow above. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost friends, family, their homes, and their livelihoods as well as their loved ones.
