NEWS: UPDATED: Climbers Stranded on Longs Peak (9/13/13)

Mt. Meeker, Longs Peak and the Loft where two
mountain climbers became stranded yesterday morning.
A rescue attempt was planned for today

In the middle all of the chaos of the Front Range floods, two women have become stranded and are in need of rescue on Longs Peak. According to the page started on tumblr.com by the sister of one of the climbers, Connie Yang and Suzanne Turell became stuck on Longs Peak in a "Whiteout snow storm" yesterday. The sister received a series of text messages from the pair stating that they were stranded at 13,400 feet because everything on the mountain had become iced over. According to the text messages they are on the "South Ridge...South East of Peak...Near the Notch". The women have a tent and are not injured but wrote that they are at risk for hypothermia. Reports have stated that rangers are going to attempt a rescue but it has been difficult to get anyone to the trailhead due to numerous road closures. Bad weather and low visibility have also made it impossible to fly a rescue helicopter.

The stranded women have come at a bad time for authorities in the area who are dealing with record rainfall and horrific flooding. The cities of Boulder, Lyons, Fort Collins, and others have been pounded by incessant rainfall the past few days, leading to record flooding and widespread destruction. The entire town of Lyons has been evacuated as of this morning with the National Guard coming in to help get everyone out of the stranded town.

UPDATED: 9News is reporting that rescue teams were able to get the two women safely off the mountain. We are highly relieved to hear this story has a happy ending and our thoughts are still with those affected by this large-scale weather disaster.

A video showing some of the record flooding in Big Thompson Canyon, which right now (9/13/13) is even higher than during the historic 1976 flood that killed 143 people:



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