in larimer county alone, officials estimate 1,500 homes have been destroyed, with another 4,500 damaged. cleanup becoming an increasingly daunting task. it was overwhelming, really. i didn t realize floods brought in a ton of mud. it just ruined everything. reporter: in boulder, homeowner michael birdsong and his neighbors built a homemade levee to protect his house but it was no match for mother nature. my basement filled with five feet of water in the first 20 minutes. that was a wall of water, this could have kept out but we didn t know. reporter: faced with the reality of having to rebuild their wrecked homes, residents are finally coming to grips with the price of the devastating damage. if you were to put a dollar estimate on this, what would you think? we re already planning for probably about $50,000, $60,000 to get it all redone.
it spoke to the spirit of the folks that live here. reporter: fema task force teams go door to door in search of residents refusing to leave their home, warning them of the continued risk of rising floodwaters. some 12,000 people so far have been evacuated to shelters. for those returning to their homes for the first time, many find no house to call home. in lair mar county alone, officials estimate 1,500 homes have been destroyed, with another 4,500 damaged. cleanup becoming an increasingly daunting task. it was overwhelming, really. i didn t realize floods brought in a ton of mud. it just ruined everything. reporter: in boulder, homeowner michael birdsong and his neighbors built a homemade levee to protect his house but it was no match for mother nature. my basement filled with five feet of water in the first 20 minutes. that was a wall of water, this
of the flooding. this is what it looks like in boulder. that s a street or what used to be a street. look at the water there. it s torn out in estes park, there was a bridge somewhere in that. the water ripping that structure down. 50 bridges are said to be damaged or destroyed so far. that means the only way in or out in many areas is by helicopter but that requires good weather. they have not had that. they did not have it on sunday. officials hoping the choppers back in the air today, but despite all this, there is the hope and the determination that the state will bounce back. the question i had is how can we ever recover from this? and i know exactly inch-by-inch, mile-by-mile, community-by-community, they are taking this stuff back, they are doing it. people are getting those things done out there.
power they were removed from the vehicle. greyhound says that drive hear been with the economy nearly 15 years and as fully rested at the time. sometimes people will ask, did he fall asleep at the wheel? the company is saying, whoically not. news the government overpaid disability benefits by nor than $1 billion. how did that happen? we ll explain, and a diplomatic stalemate, just reporting with james rosen, the u.s. and russia reach add deal to destroy chemical weapons inside syria, but is the agreement worth the paper it s written on? ambassador john bolton, formerly of the u.n., will join us with his thoughts. it s a blind alley. it s a box canyon for america. putin s led us down a here where there s just no good outcome. without the threat of force, this agreement means nothing. [ male announcer ] what s important to you? at humana, our medicare agents sit down wh you and ask. being active. and being with this guy.
in damages. from behind his camera, paul sterling watched the water rise and then pour into his home. like so many others, helpless against mother nature. it s about to come in to my downstairs. i m not even going to go down there. tonight the damage is still being tallied and the danger isn t over yet. that s nbc s miguel almaguer reporting from boulder, colorado, today. i have to tell you that tonight s weather forecast in boulder is sadly for more rain, as much as half an inch on top of the nearly 2 inches that have already fallen tonight and rain is in the forecast there tomorrow as well. sop this is not over in boulder. ongoing worries in both seaside, new jersey, and in boulder, colorado, tonight. we will keep you posted. we ll be right back. i am today by luck.n t get e i put in the hours and built a strong reputation in the industry. i set goals and worked hard to meet them. i ve made my success happen. so when it comes to my investments, i m supposed to just hand it over