Adams County hit hardest by hail and street flooding from evening storms

ADAMS COUNTY -- Heavy rain and hail flooded streets around the Denver metro area Tuesday.

Parked cars were seen nearly submerged near West 72nd Avenue and Pecos Street in Adams County. Flooding and debris were reported in Boulder County near Fourmile Creek. A flash flood warning is in effect until midnight in the area.

"The car started fogging up, like the windshield. We put the (wipers) on high-speed and we still couldn't see," said Alias Vanvelkinburgh.

He and his family were in a Dodge Magnum on Pecos Street, going north toward 72nd, when they lost control of the car.

"We were starting to drift off to the side of the road, (mom) hit the brakes and the brakes didn't do anything. We just started floating off to the side, and then as that happened, water started coming inside the car," said Vanvelkinburgh.

His sister, Alyssa, explained that they didn't ignore the saying "Turn Around, Don't Drown."

"You didn't really see the water, like how deep it was, it didn't look flooded when we started going so we just went," said Alyssa. "We tried to find a place to get out of here, so that we can get out of the car, but the car died out right there."

She said they had to jump out of the car when it started filling with water.

"It started flooding in from the passenger side in the front seat, that's where I was sitting, so I could feel it on my feet," said Alyssa. "We didn't know what to do, so we all got scared, and we were just like, 'We need to get out of the car.'"

Her other brother Darius said the water was waist-high when they got out of the car.

Nearby, cars were floating and trapped in a shopping center with a 99-cent store and an A&W/KFC restaurant.

The parking lots were flooded with water and small icebergs of pea-sized high packed into large chunks.

The Adams County Sheriff's Office had blocked off 72nd Avenue and Pecos Street, while firefighters worked to check cars in the flooded lot.

Thunderstorm activity built up slowly over the afternoon and stagnated over the area. Conditions will gradually diminish overnight.