UPDATED: WYO 130 Washout Claims Four Lives [AUDIO]

UPDATE: The four victims have been identified and additional details released — here.

WYO 130 south of Laramie, also known as the Snowy Range Road, remains closed due to flash flooding from a storm last evening. The road closure is from mile post #36 to mile post #68 near Saratoga.  Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend says four fatalities from one family have been confirmed from a single vehicle that drove into the washout caused from flooding at Brush Creek near Ryan Park.

At least two vehicles have been confirmed to have been washed downstream from the creek crossing, Townsend says. The driver of the second vehicle was rescued by other motorists. Two victims have been transported to Carbon County Memorial Hospital in Rawlins. It is believed that debris from torrential rains blocked large culverts that run under the highway, causing water to weaken the roadway. The Ryan Park area had experienced heavy rain beginning around 7:00 p.m. in the evening until around midnight, Townsend says.

The Carbon County Sheriff’s Department and Carbon County Emergency Management were in the process of alerting and evacuating campers from the North Brush Creek, South Brush Creek and Lincoln Park Campgrounds located upstream from the washed roadway in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Troopers in the area report that USFS roads #100 and #227 have also been washed out with one bridge being washed away on USFS road #100 upstream. A fixed wing aircraft from the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office is flying over the area this morning searching for any additional vehicles affected by the flooding. Names of the fatalities are not being released at this time, pending notification of next of kin.