Flash flooding unleashed by torrential downpours in Colorado has killed at least three people and forced hundreds to flee to higher ground as rising water toppled buildings and stranded motorists in their cars, officials said on Thursday.

Heavy rains drenched Colorado’s biggest urban areas, stretching 130 miles along the eastern slopes of the Rockies from Fort Collins near the Wyoming border south through Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs.

Among the hardest-hit areas was Boulder County, where the National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning through 10 p.m. local time. Flood watches were also posted for several counties in central and north-central parts of Colorado.

“There is water everywhere,” said Andrew Barth, the emergency management spokesman in Boulder County. “We’ve had several structural collapses. There’s mud and muck and debris everywhere. Cars are stranded all over the place.”

At least 6 inches of rain has fallen on the city of Boulder and up to 8 inches were measured in the foothills west of town, said Kari Bowen, a Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder, northwest of Denver.

The rains transformed Boulder Creek, which runs through the heart of the city and the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus, into a raging torrent that overran its banks and flooded adjacent parking lots and streets.

Water gushed over sidewalks, roads and bike paths throughout the downtown area as sirens wailed and public-address loudspeakers urged residents to stay clear of high water: “Warning: Flash flood. Please proceed to higher ground. Do not cross standing or running water. Do not cross Boulder Creek.”

The university campus was closed for the day, as were Boulder-area public schools and all municipal office buildings.

More than 400 students were evacuated from ground-floor campus housing overnight, campus police spokesman Ryan Huff said. Roughly 40 buildings on campus were believed to have sustained some flood-related damage, Huff said.

Ron Cobbley, 49, a homeless man who had been camping along the Saint Vrain River west of Boulder near the town of Ward, said he decided to leave the woods and head into town after three days in the rain.

“It was raging with whitewater,” he said of the river.

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[hat tip: Sheila Aliens]