DENVER (AP) - More than 2 inches of rain along the Rocky Mountain foothills Sunday afternoon sent streams and creeks over their banks, flooding streets and basements, destroying a house, sending mud down a hillside and forcing the harrowing rescues of residents swept away by floodwaters.

A 12-year-old boy, an adult man, and two young children were rescued by passersby and firefighters from creeks turned into raging rivers in Colorado Springs, said firefighter spokesman Cpt. Randy Royal. Nine drivers also had to be pulled from their cars.

"It surprised them," Royal said. "It was a lot of rain in a short amount of time."

The 12-year-boy was riding his bicycle through a creek when a wall of water swept him nearly a mile downstream. He was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries and evaluation for hypothermia, Royal said.

"He's lucky he survived that," Royal said.

A Qwest facility was also flooded, knocking out telephone service to thousands of customers in one section of the city.

In Boulder County, an inch of rain in a half hour over an area stripped by a wildfire last fall sent an estimated 50 tons of sand, dirt and rock toward the mountain town of Jamestown, said Jim Martella, assistant chief of the volunteer fire department.

The slide covered some 150 to 225 feet of the town's main street but caused no injuries or serious damage, Martella said. Crews immediately began using the dirt and sand to fill bags to help protect the town from future flooding and slides.

About 4 feet of water covered state Highway 93 through Golden, forcing its temporary closure, city spokeswoman Sabrina Henderson said.

Downhill from the highway, one house was completely submerged by the floodwaters. The occupants were not home and building inspectors said the house was a complete loss after wooden furniture floating inside the house caused a short circuit in a kitchen stove, Henderson said.

Rescuers ensuring the house was empty discovered the fire, which was quickly extinguished.

The slow-moving storm system moved over the area about 3 p.m. and didn't let up until about 5 p.m.

"It started out kind of nice and it just went and went and went," said Mike Bestor, Golden city manager. "I looked out the door and said, `Oh my, my street is flooding."'

There were also reports of flooded basements Colorado Springs, in Golden and in and near the Jefferson County community of Ken Caryl Ranch about 13 miles southwest of downtown Denver.

The National Weather Service reported 2.2 inches of rain near Conifer about 30 miles southwest of Denver and about 2.47 inches in Colorado Springs.

Heavy rain was also reported in southeastern Colorado. A Las Animas County sheriff's dispatcher said state Highway 109 was temporarily closed because of flooding.

AP-WS-06-27-04 2302EDT