Heavy rain, mudslide floods Colorado school, theater: "We've already been through enough"
A thunderstorm produced heavy rain which in turn caused portions of hillside above Telluride to slide into buildings on the north edge of town. A school and theater were damaged.
The first row of seats in the Palm Theatre were nearly submerged by the time the fire department arrived near the end of the downpour.
"The incident was caused by multiple mudslides that began around 3:30 p.m. from the Jud Wiebe Trail area between Butcher Creek and Cornet Creek," the Telluride Fire Protection District stated in a social media post. "While most exterior doors withstood the force of the water, one loading dock door sustained damage, allowing floodwater and mud to enter the theater. Approximately 3 to 4 feet of standing water and mud accumulated inside the building."
Immediately downhill from the theater, firefighters discovered up to six inches of standing water in several classrooms and hallways at Telluride Middle School.
No one was injured as a result of the mudslides and flooding, according to the department.
The National Weather Service declared a two-hour flash flood warning for Telluride at 3:45 Friday afternoon. "Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly," the alert stated.
Telluride resident Jim Denny told CBS Colorado the storm felt like a microburst. He said at least one home on West Gregory Avenue had three feet of mud in it.
"We've already been through enough with the ski patrol strike and the lack snow last winter," Denny said. "It's kind of sad."
The town's economy was negatively impacted when the ski patrol at Telluride Ski Resort walked off the job in the middle of the most recent ski season. The strike last 13 days and caused the resort to shut down during that time.
It was a difficult experience for locals during what turned out to be one of the state's worst ski seasons on record.
After Friday's storm, San Miguel County also closed Tomboy Road in Telluride. Tomboy is the access to the four-wheel-drive road across 13,000-foot Imogene Pass and into Ouray. The road and bridge departments for both Telluride and Ouray counties stated on social media that road conditions were too unsafe for their crews to assess damage done to it. The road is closed until further notice.
"Conditions up there are dangerous and more storms are on the way," the Town of Telluride warned on its own social media post. "Crews don't expect to safely reach the area for full analysis and recovery until late next week at the earliest."
Ouray County also closed Camp Bird Road into Yankee Boy Basin for the same reason.
The day before, mudslides blocked a road and trapped visitors to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The same storm system damaged rural roads in Garfield County as well.
The 30,000-square-foot Michael D. Palm Theatre opened in 2004. The New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet is scheduled to perform there July 31.
Previous mudslides have occurred on the eastern side of Telluride in 2021 and 2024.
