Colorado city evacuated as dangerous floods rise

US authorities have called on thousands more people in the flood-ravaged city of Boulder, Colorado, to evacuate as a nearby creek began rising to dangerous levels.

City officials say the notice to head to higher ground went out to about 4,000 people living around the mouth of Boulder Canyon, according to a report in Boulder’s Daily Camera newspaper.

Boulder County spokesman James Burrus said about 8,000 telephone numbers with the message to evacuate were called, but officials are not sure how many individuals that represents.

The city Office of Emergency Management said that the alert was prompted by rapidly rising creek levels caused by water backing up at the mouth of the canyon because of debris and mud coming off the mountainsides.

Flooding in the area since Wednesday has killed three people, caused widespread damage to homes and property and prompted numerous calls for evacuations.

The late-night reports from Boulder and the village of Eldorado Springs came as rescuers struggled to reach dozens of people cut off by flooding in Colorado mountain communities, while residents in the Denver area and other areas were warned to stay off flooded streets.

The towns of Lyons, Jamestown and others in the Rocky Mountain foothills have been isolated by flooding and without power or telephone since rain hanging over the region all week intensified over the last three days.

“There’s no way out of town. There’s no way into town. So, basically, now we’re just on an island,” said Jason Stillman, 37, who was forced with his fiancee to evacuate their home in Lyons at about 3am after a nearby river began to overflow into the street.

President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration last night, freeing federal aid and allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Some of the flooding was exacerbated by wildfire “burn scars” that have spawned flash floods all summer in the mountains.

One person was killed when a structure collapsed in the tiny town of Jamestown north west of Boulder. Another man drowned in flood waters north of Boulder early yesterday and a woman who was with him is missing.

The woman was swept away after the vehicle she was riding in got stuck in water. The man died after getting out of the vehicle to help her, Commander Heidi Prentup of the Boulder Sheriff’s Office said.