Interstate 70 closed in both directions on Monday after torrential rain and hail brought flooding between Silt and New Castle. US Highway 6, an alternate route, also closed for few hours. The interstate remained closed Tuesday. Early Wednesday morning a single eastbound lane opened, and by Wednesday evening a westbound lane was cleared.
Water was about 7 feet deep on the highway Monday night, according to CDOT. By Tuesday morning, there was still about 3 feet of water.
KDNK’s Marilyn Gleason lives near the flooding, where neighbors upstream brought backhoes and farm machinery to clear debris from the county road.
John Kuersten grew up in the neighborhood. He’s seen big floods here before - one in the 1990s that rolled a car and drowned its driver, and the big one back in 1982. When he saw the streams of water from his deck and the power of the storm, he knew what was coming. He dialed 9-11 to warn them to close the Interstate.
Soon after the Interstate did close, although Kuersten isn't sure whether that was due to his call or not. Neighbors pulled out their dozers and skids and worked into the night clearing muck off the county road and channeling runoff around buildings in the path of destruction.
At Red Barn Ranch, a guest ranch hosting weddings and events, a field was buried in mud and debris pushed up against buildings in its event area. As mud and wood ships filled ponds, moss floated to the top, bearing startled guppies, which were later returned unharmed to the water.
By Thursday morning, four lanes for travel had been restored to Interstate 70.
