Flash flood warning in effect for Glen Haven, Drake; landslide affects US Highway 34

Editor’s note: This flash flood warning story is free to read due to public safety concerns. You can support local reporting by purchasing a digital subscription to The Coloradoan.

UPDATE, 4:33 p.m. Monday: While US Highway 34 is open in both directions between Loveland and Estes Park, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Streamside Drive in the Drake area is closed at Larimer County Road 43.

ORIGINAL STORY: The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 2:23 p.m. Monday for an area around Glen Haven and Drake in Big Thompson Canyon, where rainfall rates of 2.5 inches per hour were reported. The warning lasts until 5:30 p.m.

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office closed U.S. Highway 34 from Larimer County Road 29 in the Loveland area to Mall Road in Estes Park due to dangerous flood conditions, but it has since reopened in both directions.

The Colorado State Patrol told a Colorado reporter around 3:50 p.m. that the Estes Park to Drake portion had reopened and the westbound portion reopened around 4:20 p.m.

The Colorado Department of Transportation reported a landslide blocking the freeway about two miles east of Drake.

Crews were working to clear the roadway, according to emergency radio stations.

Those in the warning zone should leave the area or move to higher ground as flooding is underway and some roads will become impassable, the warning says.

A storm cell over the area produced periodic surges in and around Glen Haven, including The Retreat and Storm Mountain areas as well as US Highway 34.

Dangerous flooding was reported at 3 p.m. Monday by the Estes Park Emergency Communications Center, which urged area residents to “reach higher ground immediately by any means necessary.”

The Weather Service previously issued a flood watch for much of the Front Range from the Wyoming state line to Colorado Springs, including the burn scars of Cameron Peak and Calwood and northeastern portions of the East Troublesome burn scar, until Monday midnight.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Flash flood warning issued Monday for Glen Haven, Drake area