Flash flooding swamps Colorado
Floodwaters have affected a 4,500 square-mile section of the state inundating entire neighborhoods and destroying bridges and roads.
Officials hope the number of missing will drop rapidly as communications are restored and people are evacuated throughout the region, as it did in Larimer County, where almost 250 people were lopped off a missing-persons list over the weekend, and Boulder County, where the list shrunk by 187 people.
Several homes along the Fourmile Canyon Creek were destroyed or heavily damaged.
Rescuers grounded by weekend rains took advantage of the break in the weather to resume searches for people still stranded, with 21 helicopters fanning out over the mountainsides and the plains to drop supplies and airlift those who need help.
Military helicopter crews have flown hundreds of missions up the treacherous canyons of the Rocky Mountains to rescue about 2,000 people, and counting, and drop food and water supplies to stranded hamlets.
The church has been converted to a shelter for those made homeless by flooding. Jourleni and her parents' home in nearby Lyons, Colo., was destroyed in a flash flood several days earlier.
Four people are confirmed dead and two more are missing and presumed dead. Some 1,500 homes have been destroyed and about 17,500 have been damaged, according to an initial estimate by the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.
The Boulder Office of Emergency Management said debris and mud coming off the mountainsides caused water to back up at the mouth of the Boulder Canyon, resulting in the creek's rapid rise.
"There's no way out of town. There's no way into town. So, basically, now we're just on an island," said Lyons resident Jason Stillman.