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<br />.~ <br /> <br />The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning that <br />expired at midnight. <br />At the Fort Collins Weather Station on the Colorado State University <br />~mpus, where official records are kept, 2.27 inches of rain fell in the <br />hours leading 'up to 8 p.m. - shattering the record for the date of .81 <br />nches set in 1982. <br />The weather service, however, reported that 8.41 inches of rain fell near <br />the campus between 6 and 11 p.m. <br />"There's cars up there just floating," said John Degenhart as he trudged <br />his way north along City Park Avenue, urging southbound motorists to turn <br />around before their autos got swamped. <br />Dumpsters slammed into cars and vehicles were under water up to their <br />roofs in the area. <br />Monday's storm came on the heels of a stretch of hot weather that left <br />the area prone to wildfires and forced Fort Collins officials to call for <br />residents to conserve water. <br />"It's just one thing after another around here," said Jim Wirshborn, <br />chief meteorologi'st at Mountain States Weather Services. "We've got one <br />heck of a lot of water that's fallen on the poudre River drainage." <br />At Poudre Valley Hospital, officials reported five people with <br />hypothermia from exposure to the water and two others with serious <br />lacerations caused by blown-out windows. <br />"I'd definitely say this is the worst I've ever seen here," said Ken <br />Fischer, a longtime Fort Collins resident who spent time at Campus West <br />late Monday night trying to warn motorists to stay away from <br />intersections flooded with waist-deep water. <br />All of the problems overwhelmed firefighters, paramedics and police <br />officers, some of whom struggled with vehicles that got stuck in the <br />torrents of water. <br />8he tragedy is that we cannot respond to everybody's needs," Levy said. <br />~e problems weren't confined to Fort Collins. <br />A mud slide closed U,S. Highway 287 near Ted's Place. <br />And authorities were bracing for the possibility of a repeat performance <br />today from Mother Nature. The ground could take no more water Monday <br />night. <br />"The problem right now is everything is absolutely saturated, and it just <br />goes to runoff," Levy said. <br /> <br />Copyright: <br />Copyright (c) 1997 The Coloradoan <br />, <br />Record Number: 001430D1D26930081B5AO <br /> <br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------ <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />I <br />