'We were poured on big time,' Manitou Springs visitors startled by Wednesday's storm

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Heavy rainfall Wednesday afternoon caused Fountain Creek to rise to potentially dangerous levels in Manitou Springs, forcing evacuations at a local RV park and several other locations.

Campers at the Pikes Peak RV Park had to quickly move to higher ground when the creek began to swell rapidly after the downpour.

"I looked over at the creek, saw the creek was getting really high, saw one of the camp guys frantically going back and forth, talking to people. I was like, we're about to get evacuated," said visitor Jason Britt.

Britt and his family had just returned from riding motorcycles up Pikes Peak when they were caught in the sudden evacuation.

"The kids were like, 'just leave the motorcycles, leave the motorcycles.' We're like, 'no, no, we're not leaving those not leaving the motorcycles at all,'" said Britt.

Several sites in Manitou Springs, including City Hall, were also evacuated as a precaution.

Kathy Sweetman and her sister Arayna were visiting the area when they got caught in the downpour. Sweetman describes the before-and-after appearance of Fountain Creek.

"Earlier, it was gorgeous, just a little shallow water and and then within just moments, it was just... raised up so high," said Sweetman. "We were poured on big time. So, we tried to wait it out inside of a candy store, good choice."

Eventually, they had to drive through flooded streets to reach their destination.

"She [Arayna] lives in (the) monsoon area where we had to drive down through shooting water," said Sweetman.

As of Wednesday evening, no injuries were reported from the flooding.

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