Boulder, Colorado (CNN) — Three more days.
That’s how long it may be before all the rain goes away in Colorado, where flash flooding has cut off towns, ripped out roads and killed at least three people.
More rain is forecast through Sunday for the region, on top of the 15 inches some parts of the state have already received. While meteorologists aren’t sure which way the water will go, state officials warned that “very heavy rainfall” is likely again Friday.
“This isn’t over,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
Nineteen counties remained under high threat of flooding Friday, the state Office of Emergency Management said.
They include Boulder County, where National Guard troops were evacuating the entire town of Lyons, which had been cut off by flash floods.
As they arrived at a shelter set up in a church in nearby Longmont, Lyons evacuees told stories of houses ripped swept off their foundations as the St. Vrain Creek turned into a violent river, CNN affiliate KMGH reported.
KMGH reporter Theresa Marchetta said evacuees also described homes dangling off cliffs.
Some people in Lyons still were awaiting rescue, evacuees said, and some residents had chosen to stay. Marchetta said evacuees told her there had been a town meeting and residents were checking on each other to ensure no one was missing.
To the north, in Larimer County, Sheriff Justin Smith said many people remained stranded, although a break in the weather was allowing the National Guard to reach some residents by air, KMGH reported.
State transportation officials issued an emergency alert to residents in some of the hardest-hit counties, warning them to stay off roads because many are unstable and could give way without notice. They also closed Interstate 25 from the Wyoming line south to Denver. Part of Interstate 70 also was shut down.
In Fort Collins, some residents had been urged to leave their homes. And in Denver, police responded when a man was swept into a drainage pipe with his dog. Both were saved after traveling two blocks in the water, police said on Twitter.