It's Raining, It's Pouring

Really:

Flash flooding in Colorado’s Boulder County has left one person dead and widespread flooding is keeping search and rescue teams from reaching stranded residents and motorists in Boulder and nearby mountain communities as heavy rains hammered northern Colorado on Thursday.

Boulder Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Gabrielle Boerkircher says volunteers are trying to help stranded people until emergency crews can arrive because many roads are impassable.

The Larimer County office of emergency information says an earthen dam in the Big Elk Meadows area southeast of Estes Park has given way and residents of Pinewood Springs and Blue Mountain should be ready to evacuate.

Even here in Monument — with an elevation of about 7,400 feet and no rivers or even creeks worth mentioning — has a flash flood alert. It’s not quite like when I lived in Humboldt County, CA and the roads would sometimes fall off, but it is bringing back some memories.

Apropos of not much, first time I visited Humboldt, I was warned that during the rainy season (September through mid-August) “sometimes the roads fall off.” My midwestern self immediately asked, “Off of what?”