UPDATE
One Dead and Three Injured after Mudslides and Floods Cause Chaos in
Colorado Town Ravaged by Wild Fires
Three people have been reported injured
Officials are trying to confirm if one person is missing
Areas burned by wildfires are vulnerable to flash floods because the burned soils don't absorb as much water
By Associated Press Reporter, 10 August 2013
A mudslide closed a highway and flash flooding stranded vehicles in high, fast-moving water Friday night as rain fell west of Colorado Springs in an area burned by the Waldo Canyon wildfire last year.
Manitou Springs police have reported one person dead and three people injured. El Paso County sheriff's officials said one of the injured had a leg injury, and another had a back injury.
The deceased man's remains were found with debris along a closed highway, according to NBC News, his name has not been released
Disbelief: Carson Dennis stands in the middle of the destruction caused by a flash flood
that poured down Canon Avenue, Friday in Manitou, Colorado
Residents told The Gazette at least one home was swept away. Firefighters also rescued one man from a creek.
The mudslide closed U.S. 24 between Cascade and Manitou Springs.
Mario Leon told The Gazette he and his wife heard the man shouting for help from their auto repair shop on the bank of the creek. He said he saw the man clinging to the bridge and lowered an extension cord for him to grab while his wife called 911.
Saved: The Fountain Water Rescue team assists a woman after she broke her leg
climbing to safety to avoid the flash flood that ripped through downtown
Several homes and businesses have been damaged, police said.
About 15 people were at an evacuation shelter set up by the Pikes Peak Chapter of the American Red Cross, Manitou Springs police said.
About 1.3 inches of rain fell in the area burned by the Waldo Canyon Fire last year, the National Weather Service said. Areas burned by wildfires are vulnerable to flash floods because the burned soils don't absorb as much water.
To the southwest, flooding temporarily closed part of U.S. 50 west of Royal Gorge Park.
Devastation: A volunteer rescuer searches the Fountain Creek flood waters
for survivors as another flash flood washes off the Waldo Canyon burn scar
Flash flooding: High, fast-moving water closed roads and stranded vehicles
Flash flood warnings have been frequent this summer in Manitou Springs.
At The Cliff House at Pikes Peak, below a canyon that burned in the Waldo Canyon Fire, the hotel's staff regularly put sandbags around the lower deck and back doors as a precaution when the forecast calls for rain. They did it again Friday, but it didn't help.
'The sandbags we put up were washed out almost immediately,' Cliff House front office manager Roland Sardaczuk told The Associated Press. 'The cars parked on Park Avenue - the water just threw them around like they were toys.'
The hotel remained open, and no one there was hurt. 'We're grateful for that,' Mr Sardaczuk said.