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More than 100 people had to spend the night on a highway, including nearly 30 who took refuge in a tunnel, after rain in an area burned by a forest fire again triggered mudslides in the west from Colorado
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo .– More than 100 people had to spend the night on a freeway, nearly 30 of whom took refuge in a tunnel, after rain over an area burned by a wildfire again triggered water flows. mud in western Colorado, authorities said Friday. .
The people were arrested with their vehicles on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon Thursday evening. Those in the tunnel were stranded for about nine hours until crews could make their way through the mud to reach them around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, the county sheriff’s office spokesperson said. of Garfield, Walt Stowe.
The tunnel serves as the 24-hour operations center for the Colorado Department of Transportation, so it’s relatively well lit and has telephones, Stowe said. No injuries were reported.
The transport service counted 108 people, including 29 in the tunnel, who were stranded on the highway overnight. Between 65 and 70 people were stranded at a rest area on Friday afternoon as teams scrambled to force a safe passage through the debris.
Mike Goolsby, regional director of the Department of Transportation, said the area was affected by about 10 slides, 12 feet (4 meters) deep and up to 150 feet (46 meters) wide.
“I am very grateful that no one was injured. … We did our best not to have people in the canyon when those flash flood warnings hit, but it was the best case scenario for all of us based on this morning’s result, ”he said. declared.
Glenwood Canyon has cliffs rising up to 2,000 feet (610 meters) above the Colorado River, making it prone to landslides and mudslides. In recent weeks, rain over the area burned by a wildfire last summer has triggered frequent landslides, shutting down I-70, Colorado’s main east-west highway. Most of these closures took place before the storm arrived, to prevent people from being trapped.
On Thursday, the canyon had temporarily closed earlier in the day as a thunderstorm cell approached, but reopened as a second thunderstorm cell settled there, resulting in vehicle entrapment and their passengers.
Transportation officials said the section of the highway is expected to be closed at least over the weekend due to the ongoing major clean-up and heavy rain forecast. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the area.
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