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<br />, <br /> <br />-\ne Denver Post Online: Today's News <br /> <br />Page I of3 <br /> <br />The Denver Post <br /> <br />· IDDl <br /> <br />on1:ine <br /> <br />News <br />hORe <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Deluge floods rush-hour roads <br /> <br />By Katherine Voat and Kieran Nicholson <br />Denver Post Staff Writers <br /> <br />July 31 - A deluge pounded Colorado on Thursday, turning Denver's <br />main roads into floating parking lots at the height of the evening rush <br />hour and forcing the rescue of stranded motorists by boat <br /> <br />As waist-deep water rose on Interstate 25 at South Logan Street, three <br />cars stalled and emergency crews plucked the drivers from atop their <br />roofs at 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br />Dan Hopkins, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, <br />said 3 to 4 feet of water flooded 1-25 between Logan and Washington <br />streets, causing the closure of the interstate from 5 to 7 p.m. <br /> <br />Frustrated drivers were diverted to side streets only to find them flooded <br />as well. <br /> <br />""All of south Denver is really in a pretty bad situation," Hopkins said <br />from his car phone. ""The whole drainage system of south Denver has <br />been deluged." <br /> <br />On Iowa A venue, just off South Santa Fe Drive, a low-lying area under <br />railroad tracks became a pool of water. One woman driving a Toyota <br />Corolla got caught in the middle of it. <br /> <br />""She was sitting on top of the car and screaming us down," said Jimmy <br />Chacon, a Tele-Communications Inc. employee. <br /> <br />Chacon said the woman climbed off the car and swam through the water. <br />Chacon called police on his cell phone, and when the water subsided at <br />about 6:30 p.m, a police car pushed the Toyota up the hill to safety, <br /> <br />Other drivers stayed offthe roads for fear of becoming stranded. <br /> <br />Linda Frohlick said she waited to drive home from her family's crane <br />company on South Acoma Street because ofthe storm, ''''I'm not going <br />home yet, because I'm smart," she said. ""I'm not going to get stuck in it" <br /> <br />Eight lanes ofI-25 .,. four north and four south... disappeared under <br />water just as rush hour was peaking. ""There was like 4 feet of water," <br />said onlooker Frank Gonzales-Cantu at the Logan Street overpass. <br /> <br />A van and a Volvo station wagon got stuck on the highway directly <br />beneath the overpass. A man in the van and two women in the Volvo had <br />to be rescued by firefighters. <br /> <br />""The water rescue guys went out in a little boat and pulled them out," <br />Gonzales- Cantu said, The Volvo and van were later towed, <br /> <br />State highway crews used trucks with blades on the front, typically <br />reserved for moving snow, to move standing water on the highway, <br /> <br />http://www.denverpostcomlnews/news073If.htm <br /> <br />7/31/98 <br />