2 p.m. Friday At the height of the Colorado flooding, the number of people unaccounted for topped 1,200, and fears grew of a massive death toll.
Those concerns have largely abated with seven confirmed fatalities, three missing and 82 people unaccounted for Friday.
That leaves the question: How did that number get so high?
Officials in the Rocky Mountain foothills compiled the lists based on the reports of relatives, friends and evacuees saying they had not heard from their loved ones and neighbors in the flood zone.
Sometimes the numbers conflicted or the names were duplicated.
Searchers consolidated lists, crossed off duplicates, cross-checked evacuees, made contact with people refusing to leave, and are going door-to-door for the rest.
They expect the search to become increasingly difficult.
3 p.m. Wednesday (AP) — Authorities in Boulder and Larimer counties say the emergency phase of flood disaster operations is ending and the recovery phase is beginning.
Sheriff Joe Pelle said Wednesday that rescue workers are ending “high octane” search-and-rescue operations. Searchers are now going door-to-door and looking through debris piles and vehicles for victims and damage in the flood-scarred areas of the foothills.
Those crews include Federal Emergency Management Agency urban search-and-rescue teams with search dogs and medical supplies.
Lt. Col. Mitch Utterback of the Colorado National Guard says some of the helicopters flying rescue missions may be returned to Fort Carson.
As the airlifts taper off, so have the number of missing. State emergency officials say that number was less than 200 Wednesday.
7 a.m. Wednesday (AP) — Damage from flooding in far northeastern Colorado has been limited so far but more water is still coming.
Volunteers in Ovid had to scramble to fill sandbags and build a dike in the lowest part of town of about 300 people just after midnight Wednesday. Sedgwick County emergency management director Mark Turner says they were able to prevent more serious flooding.
He says the river stayed within its banks when it reached Julesburg later.
A highway south of the town of Sedgwick is closed because of flooding. Some corn and bean fields have also been flooded and those crops will likely be lost.
A smaller surge of water is expected to follow because of recent rain in the foothills. It could still pose a problem because the ground is already saturated.
5 p.m. Tuesday (AP) — In the days after floodwaters rushed through the Rocky Mountain foothills, the helicopter crews that lifted stranded people to safety were greeted like heroes. Nearly a week later, they are often being waved away by stubborn mountain residents who refuse to abandon their homes.
Caleb Liesveld says he hiked several miles into tiny Pinewood Springs to try to convince his parents to leave. His mother relented, but his father refused. He’s determined to use heavy equipment from the family’s granite quarry to resurrect an old stagecoach road that would let residents get vehicles in and out.
In nearby Lyons, a number of residents have hunkered down for the long haul.
Rescue officials attribute the stubbornness to mountain culture and a potential lack of awareness of the extent of devastation.
2 p..m Tuesday (AP) — Colorado’s flooding has been described as biblical, but you can’t put that in the record books.
The official measure of how much water flowed down northern Colorado’s canyons into the South Platte River has been hampered a bit by river gauges that have been swamped by all the water or swept away.
Bob Kimbrough, a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, says crews will have to measure high water marks in those areas to get the official measurements.
The agency expects to release its findings on the magnitude of the flooding for a few weeks.
Crews attempted to install a replacement gauge in the St. Vrain River near Longmont on Tuesday but the water was still flowing too high.
8 a.m. Tuesday (AP) — Weld County officials say increased amounts of standing water from flooding are increasing concerns about a rapid growth of mosquitoes and an increased risk for contracting the deadly West Nile virus.
This week’s forecast for hot weather could speed up the growing process for mosquitoes that transmit the disease, helping them mature from egg to adult in as little as a week.
Health officials say there have been about 100 human cases of West Nile in the state this year. At least one person has died.
Health officials say the symptoms of West Nile virus appear 3 to 14 days after exposure and include fever, body aches, neck stiffness, and disorientation.
6:45 pm. Monday (AP) — Colorado state officials have cut nearly in half their list of people missing in widespread flooding.
The state’s count fell Monday from 1,253 to just 658.
Emergency management officials had predicted the count would drop as communications were restored and people were able to check in with loved ones.
The state had also warned that their count was inexact, and it conflicted at times with reports from the counties hardest-hit by flooding, Larimer and Boulder.
3 p.m. Monday (AP) — Gerald Guntle dials his sister’s home multiple times a day, desperate to find out if she survived the widespread flooding that shattered the Rocky Mountain foothill town of Lyons. But the phone just rings and rings.
The Tucson, Ariz., man’s sister is among hundreds of people listed as missing in a disaster that is already confirmed to have killed four people.
Officials hope the number of missing will drop rapidly as communications are restored and people are evacuated, as it did in Larimer and Boulder counties. Some 487 people in the two counties dropped off missing-persons list over the weekend.
Faced with a lack of information, friends and relatives are struggling to avoid thoughts of worst-case scenarios. Experts say the waiting can take a psychological toll.
4 a.m. Monday (AP) — Boulder authorities say resumed air rescue efforts are planned for Monday.
The Office of Emergency Management says that the weather is expected to be clear enough to allow helicopters to take to the skies to rescue flood victims.
The officials are urging people who are cut off by flood waters and need to evacuate but have been unable to communicate by phone or other means to signal helicopters passing overhead with sheets, mirrors, flares or signal fires.
Officials say flood victims need to signal the helicopters any way they can.
7 p.m. Sunday (AP) — Colorado emergency management officials have released an initial estimate that says the ongoing flooding has damaged or destroyed nearly 19,000 homes.
The Colorado Office of Emergency Management estimated Sunday on its website that 17,494 homes have been damaged and 1,502 destroyed.
In addition, 11,700 people have been evacuated and a total of 1,253 people are unaccounted for.
County officials have said that number fluctuates as stranded residents re-establish communication with family, friends or authorities.
Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Micki Trost says the numbers were reported by affected counties and compiled by the state agency.
The flooding is spread across parts of 15 counties.
4 p.m. Sunday (AP) — Emergency officials say about 1,000 people in Larimer County are still awaiting rescue.
Type 2 Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team commander Shane Del Grosso said Sunday that many people have made contact with requests for evacuations.
But rain has grounded airlifts and prevented supply drops. Del Grosso says rescuers are looking for ways to get into the isolated areas by ground, but a change in the weather is needed to get to all the people who need it.
The rain is forecast to continue into Sunday night.
County officials say 16 helicopters are on standby in case the weather clears. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending two 80-person search-and-rescue teams to assist.
Hundreds more people are unaccounted for in Boulder County and other flood-affected areas.
12:30 p.m. Sunday (AP) — Colorado’s widespread flooding has led to hundreds of missing person reports, but officials say many of those people are calling in safe.
Emergency management spokeswoman Micki Trost says many families have reported loved ones as missing because the loss of phone service in many areas cut off communications.
Major cell phone providers had service back up Sunday, and officials were expecting the number of missing to drop as people are able to check in. They are being asked to call the Red Cross if they had been out of touch for several days.
Four people have been confirmed dead in the flooding, with one more person presumed dead.
7 a.m. Sunday (AP) — Military helicopter crews are expanding their searches for people who are stranded with more rain expected to fall in flooded areas.
National Guard officials say most of the 1,750 people and 300 pets rescued as of Saturday night have been in Boulder and Larimer counties.
The airlifts are to resume Sunday and also will include Longmont, Fort Collins, Fort Morgan and Weld County.
The National Weather Service says the rain is expected to pick up again throughout the day in the mountains and foothills.
Between a half-inch and 2 inches are expected to fall in the area, creating the risk of flash flooding and mud slides.
8 p.m (AP) — A National Guard official says airlifts and truck convoys have ferried more than 1,750 stranded residents and their pets from the floodwaters.
Lt. James Goff said Saturday the rescue areas have mainly rescued people from Boulder and Larimer counties.
He says the airlifts will resume Sunday with helicopter crews expanding their searches east to include Longmont, Fort Collins and Weld County.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle says authorities are making progress in reaching areas previously inaccessible. Hundreds of people in the flooded areas are still unaccounted for.
4:00 p.m. (AP) — A fifth person is believed to have died in Colorado’s flooding.
A woman is presumed dead after witnesses saw floodwaters from the Big Thompson River destroy her home at the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon.
Larimer County sheriff’s spokesman John Schulz says the home was in the Cedar Cove area, right above an area called the Narrows.
About 100 people are unaccounted for in the county. Shulz says he expects to continue to receive reports of confirmed missing and confirmed fatalities in the next several days.
11:00 a.m. Saturday (AP) — Two towns on the plains east of Greeley are being evacuated because of flooding.
Authorities ordered residents of Goodrich and Orchard to leave their homes Saturday morning. They’re very close to three large reservoirs.
9:30 a.m. Saturday (AP) — National Guard troops have resumed truck convoys to ferry stranded Lyons residents through the floodwaters to shelter.
Lt. Skye Robinson says the convoys began again Saturday morning after spending most of Friday transporting residents from the town.
An estimated 2,500 residents are being evacuated.
Robinson says helicopter airlifts of 295 residents from Jamestown continued into the night and also were expected to resume on Saturday.
Evacuations are voluntary, but the outlook for those who choose to stay with their homes and property is weeks without power, water, sewer or cellphone service.
— This is what Associated Press reporters on the scene are learning about unfolding events:
7:28 p.m. MDT
The Colorado National Guard says it has helped evacuate more than 550 people by ground and air. Authorities plan to airlift flood victims throughout the night.
7 p.m. MDT
The Red Cross has opened a shelter in Granby for 21 adults and 154 seventh-graders who were stranded at a youth camp near Estes Park. The campers were loaded into a school bus and are traveling across Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park on their way to the shelter.
5:14 p.m. MDT
Helicopter news footage shows roads east of Greeley cut off by flooding, and broad swaths of land inundated by water. A man is seen escaping flooded farmland on horseback as rescue crews ferry an inflatable raft carrying at least two dogs. Heavy rain is moving through the area west of Denver.
4:04 p.m. MDT
Colorado officials raised the death toll from flooding to four after a woman’s body was found in Boulder. Sheriff Joe Pelle says the unidentified woman was swept away Thursday after a vehicle got stuck in high water. A man in the same vehicle died after he got out and tried to help her. Pelle says 80 people in Boulder County are still unaccounted for.
3:41 p.m. MDT
Authorities say as many as 2,500 people could be evacuated from Lyons by the end of the day.
3:30 p.m. MDT
Boulder County officials say National Guard helicopters are rescuing nearly 300 residents stranded in Jamestown, a mountain town cut off by flooding. It’s unclear how many more people are in the town.
3:26 p.m. MDT
A helicopter has been evacuating stranded people in Larimer County, focusing on those with medical problems. After getting his first aerial view of the destruction, Sheriff Justin Smith said hundreds if not thousands of people, remain stranded and are running low of food and fuel.
3:15 p.m. MDT
Sixth graders finishing a week at Jefferson County’s outdoor lab school on Mount Evans hiked down the mountain to school buses because a road to the school was impassable. The 138 students made the trek with authorities during a break in the weather.
1:56 p.m. MDT
The football game between Fresno State and Colorado is being postponed because of the flooding devastating the state. Chancellor Philip DiStefano said the community is hurting and it’s not a good time to put pressure on the community and divert attention away from people in need.
1:32 p.m. MDT
The National Park Service says a pair of hikers made it down Longs Peak, one of Colorado’s highest points, on their own after being stranded by an ice storm for two days. The news came just as the Park Service was organizing its latest effort to rescue the women.
12:30 p.m. MDT
Rocky Mountain National Park is closed and officials are escorting remaining visitors out of the park. Officials say they’re working to mount rescue efforts for two hikers reported missing on Longs Peak, a 14,259-foot mountain there. Trail Ridge Road through the park, the highest continuous paved road in the United States, remains open to emergency vehicles and residents evacuating from the town of Estes Park.
11:56 a.m. MDT
Flooding has closed Interstate 25 from north of Denver to Cheyenne, a 90-mile stretch. Three major rivers — Big Thompson, St. Vrain, and Poudre — normally flow under the highway in northern Colorado, but flood waters have pushed over the top of the roadway in some locations.
11:22 a.m. MDT
Officials at the University of Colorado are discussing whether the football game between Fresno State and Colorado will be played Saturday or pushed back because of flooding.
11:01 a.m. MDT
Helicopters are flying in Boulder and Larimer counties to reach stranded people and drop supplies. Low visibility had grounded them Thursday.
10:49 a.m. MDT
Blue skies are peeking through clouds over the Front Range, but more rain is expected in the afternoon.
10:10 a.m. MDT
An elderly man who was walking his dog was rescued from a Denver drainage ditch after being swept away by rushing water. Denver Fire Department spokesman Mark Watson said witnesses saw the man and dog fall into the water, and called for help. He was pulled from the water four blocks away, but his condition wasn’t immediately available.
___
6:31 a.m. MDT
Authorities went door-to-door in Morrison, south of the historic Red Rocks Amphitheater, asking hundreds of people to evacuate as Bear Creek neared flood stage. The amphitheater was in no immediate danger.
___
2 a.m. MDT
Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner tours the flood damage, and says Boulder Creek has begun to recede but conditions remain dangerous.