A flash flood near the Aspen Acres burn scar in Pueblo County killed a man Sunday, and a retaining wall collapsed in a Jefferson County neighborhood during the same weekend storms.
A man was swept away and killed by flash flooding near the Aspen Acres burn scar in Pueblo County on Sunday after roughly 1 to 1.5 inches of rain fell in about 90 minutes near Beulah. The same weekend storm system caused a 30-foot retaining wall above the Dutch Creek Farms neighborhood in southwest Jefferson County to partially collapse, sending water and mud into backyards and basements. Saturday's rain also flooded roads and stranded drivers across the south Denver metro area, including in Meridian Village, Aurora and Evergreen, and led to more than 550 flight delays at Denver International Airport.
A round of heavy rain that soaked the Front Range over the weekend turned deadly in Pueblo County on Sunday, when a man was swept away by fast-moving floodwater near the Aspen Acres burn scar outside Beulah, and it left a Jefferson County neighborhood dealing with a collapsed retaining wall and mud-caked yards.
Pueblo County sheriff's deputies said the man was standing near Highway 78 and Central Avenue on Sunday afternoon when the water carried him downstream. Deputies, members of the sheriff's office Emergency Services Division and fire crews searched on foot while a sheriff's drone team and a Flight for Life helicopter searched from the air. The helicopter crew found him in a creek about two miles from where he had been swept away. Rescuers hiked in and confirmed he was dead.
The National Weather Service estimated that 1 to 1.5 inches of rain fell over the area in roughly 90 minutes. A flood watch had already been issued because of the risk of flash flooding and debris flows tied to the Aspen Acres burn scar, ground left bare and prone to runoff after wildfire stripped away vegetation. Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said his office's thoughts were with the man's family.
"Our hearts are heavy today as we confirm the tragic loss of life resulting from this afternoon's flooding in Beulah," Lucero said. "I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and those affected by this tragic loss."
The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office is urging residents near burn scars to stay alert during monsoon season, when even short bursts of rain can send walls of water and debris down slopes that no longer hold soil in place.
The storm system responsible for Sunday's flooding had already caused damage a day earlier, on Saturday, when heavy rain hit a wide stretch of the metro area and foothills. In southwest Jefferson County, a 30-foot retaining wall behind homes in the Dutch Creek Farms neighborhood, near West Coal Mine Avenue and South Kipling Street, partially gave way as rain poured down. The wall was built to support a new housing development above the existing neighborhood.
Homeowner Brian Jessee watched the flooding happen in real time on his home security camera. "I could actually see a river in my backyard while I'm trying to drive home," he said. "This was just a surprise as to how much water was coming off the wall straight into our yards." By Sunday, his patio was buried under thick mud and his landscaping was destroyed. He was stacking sandbags around his window wells in case more rain arrived. "We were lucky that it didn't go in our basement," he said, "but yeah, I mean, everything back there is pretty much ruined."
Neighbor Paul Clark described watching the wall fail from below. "The water was just cascading and undercutting the wall," Clark said. He and other residents have raised concerns about the development planned above their homes. "They're going to build 30-foot tall houses 25 feet from the edge, and we think that's a bad idea," Clark said.
Saturday's rain caused problems well beyond Jefferson County. South Metro Fire Rescue and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to stranded drivers at flooded intersections in Meridian Village, where rain gauges recorded up to 2 inches in a short window. In Aurora, the parking lot at a Costco on South Havana Street flooded badly enough to submerge at least one car. Several businesses in Evergreen also reported flooding, and Douglas County crews used snowplows to push hail and standing water off roadways. Denver International Airport temporarily halted departures because of thunderstorms, contributing to more than 550 delays and roughly 60 cancellations. No major injuries were reported from Saturday's flooding in the metro area, and the full extent of property damage was still being assessed.
Dry, hot weather returned to the Front Range on Monday, with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s across the plains and metro Denver staying dry. Tuesday is expected to bring another warm day with only isolated late-day storms. The National Weather Service is watching Wednesday as the next chance for widespread rain, forecasting scattered thunderstorms that could again turn severe with strong winds, hail and heavy downpours.
In Jefferson County, homeowners in Dutch Creek Farms say they plan to keep pressing the developer and county officials about the retaining wall's stability before the next storm arrives. In Pueblo County, the sheriff's office has not released the identity of the man killed near Beulah pending notification of additional family members.
