A week after heavy rains delivered what many in the area termed a 1,000-year-flood, state and local officials were still scrambling to complete rescue efforts in northern Colorado's devastated communities and begin initial cleanup and repairs that will take months, if not years, to complete.
At least eight people died, tens of thousands were evacuated, and nearly 18,000 homes and 1,000 businesses were damaged or destroyed in the raging floodwaters that tore through the foothills and onto the northeastern plains. The rains, measured in Boulder by the National Weather Service at 21 in. over a few days, resulted from the collision of a northern cold front with monsoonal moisture, stalled over the region, from the Gulf of Mexico. The Denver metro area was spared the brunt of the floods and suffered only minor damage.