SPRINGFIELD, Mo. ― Heavy rain continues to pummel Colorado.

PBR veteran Kody Lostroh, a Longmont, Colo., native, opted out of this weekend's Built Ford Tough Series event, in Springfield, Mo., in order to return home early Saturday.

He tweeted Saturday:

Recent news reports cite nearly 500 residents are unaccounted for. Most of the devastation has been in Larimer County, but continuous rain has affected parts of Boulder and El Paso Counties.

Lostroh also tweeted earlier on Saturday:

Lostroh, who recently built a new home, lives northeast of Denver.

The 2009 World Champion bull rider isn't the only member of the extended PBR brand affected by the flooding.

Television broadcaster Leah Garcia lives in Boulder and is optimistic that she'll have no issues returning home Monday when rains are expected to subside. Jerome Robinson, a longtime director of production, lives on a ranch outside nearby Fort Collins.

Robinson said his home and much of his land is located atop a plateau.

Other than muddy pastures and bull pens, which have been housing bulls owned and hauled by three-time Stock Contractor of the Year Jeff Robinson, who is of no relation, has not been directly affected by the flood waters.

Jerome added that his daughter lives in Boulder, but "as luck would have it, everybody I've called has been in pretty good shape, but they say when it got over where Kody lives by Greeley and Evans and LaSalle they said that water was just spreading out and going everywhere."

Lostroh tweeted a photo (below) on Saturday afternoon along with this message, "Get home from the actual rivers, and I have new rivers running by my house! 2" rain and 2" hail in 45 min."

He located several stranded horses that afternoon and helped lead them to safety.

Robinson termed this latest disaster to strike Colorado as "unique."

"The last time I remember any significant flooding like this was of the big Thompson Canyon flood back in the Seventies," recalled Robinson, who was still competing then.

The flood took place during the annual Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days.

Robinson drove from Cheyenne to a one-day rodeo in Boulder and that night was headed back to his ranch outside Fort Collins when he had to go south around the flooded areas.

Forty years ago communication wasn't nearly what is today, so with much less media coverage and weather forecasting, the residents were unprepared for the heavy rains and the flooding that followed.

"The devastation has been more," said Robinson, "but the death count hasn't been near like it was then."

Earlier this year massive flooding threatened the Calgary Stampede and affected several other events in the region, including Touring Pro Division events produced by PBR Canada.

In recent years, flood waters have also affected PBR events in Australia and Brazil.

Robinson has missed much of the rain since leaving home last week prior to the BFTS event in Oakland, Calif., but has remained in contact with ranch hands. He said the floods are not much different than the fires that destroyed thousands of acres of land in Colorado.

"Devastation is devastation," he concluded.

Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.