Under tight security, hundreds of Lyons evacuees were given just two hours to check on their homes and leave. On Sept. 12, the St. Vrain River destroyed dozens of homes, a trailer park, two town bridges and sections of the only road in and out of the picturesque town of 1,600 framed by sandstone cliffs.

Evacuees had to clear several roadblocks to get in. Boulder County sheriff’s deputies roamed the community, checking residents’ IDs out of concern that overcrowding would interfere with workers using heavy machinery.

Bob Ruthrauff, 84, found his home intact but was repelled by the smell of rotting food when he opened his door. He spent his two hours in town getting rid of the spoilage.

Brenna Willis found huge mounds of mud in her yard and a foot of stagnant water inside her house. In her shed, two mountain bikes were covered with muck. Her winter clothes were muddy rags.

“It’s frustrating. I want to start drying the house out because everything’s wet. It’s wet in there, and it’s starting to smell,” Willis said.

“It was paradise, but now it looks like it will be a lot of construction,” said Heather Sakai, whose first-floor rental was flooded.

Sakai makes herbal medicine and is an accountant; she lost her equipment, papers – and 30 feet of her backyard to the river. She said she wanted to stay but was sick of the stench of sewage.

The body of a flood victim was found near Lyons on Thursday, bringing the Colorado flood death toll to seven. Three people in neighboring Larimer County were missing and presumed dead.

Boulder County authorities identified the latest victim as Gerald Boland, an 80-year-old retired teacher and basketball coach. Neighbors said Boland took his wife to safety Sept. 12 but defied a mandatory evacuation order and tried to go back to their home amid the flooding. An autopsy was planned.

The number of people unaccounted for has plunged to about 140, thanks to rescues and restored communications.

To the east, Colorado’s flooding triggered at least two significant oil spills. Regulators said 323 barrels of oil spilled from an Anadarko Petroleum tank farm near Platteville. A second Anadarko tank spilled 125 barrels into the South Platte River.

Flooding along the South Platte River pushed into western Nebraska but caused little initial damage.