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<br /> <br />Denver Rotky Mountain News: July 31, 2006 -Page Sa <br />Circulation: 320,000 daily 661,000 Sunday <br /> <br />J <br />- .1 .. _I <br /> <br />Rite to recall Big Thompson fury <br /> <br />By Michael Malik <br />ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS <br /> <br /> <br />TheBlgThompso <br />the deadliest na: <br />Colorado history. <br />On July :U. 1976. a four-hour su- <br />I, pe, r storm dumped 12inChe, S ofraln <br />into the mountains west of' Drake, <br />! beginning about 6:30p.m. <br />l A wall of water barreled down <br />I more tho . an 20 ",tni.tes , of the Big <br />Thompson Canyon, kllUng 144 pea. <br />I pleandcausing$35.5m1llioninprop- <br />, erty damage. <br />By best estimates, as many as <br />3,000 residents and.. vacatIoners <br />were in the canyon that Saturday <br /> <br /> <br />nIght. <br />For many, the weekend was to <br />streteh into Monday for a three-day <br />celebration of the lOOth anniversary <br />of Colorado statehood. <br />Today. people will gather in the <br />canyon to remember those who died <br />in the t1~l'J. <br />At 10:30 a.m. the V,S. Geological <br />Survey will unveil a high-water <br />marker at the site where Drake's <br />power plant stood before it was de. <br />stroyed.. in the flood. <br />The marker WflJ.'serve as a symbol <br />of both how dangerous and destruc- <br />tive the flool'J was and the many les- <br />sons people have learned in its after- <br />math, <br />Informational booths wUl be set <br /> <br />up until 2 p.rn.to educate the public <br />on how to prepare for, and deal WIth. <br />any future disasters. <br />At 7 p.m. people will gather Cor <br />light refreshments, followed at 8 <br />p.m. by a candlelight service. <br />In addition to those who died. 250 <br />people were InJured in the tlOoc:l and <br />more than 800 were evacuated by he- <br />licopter. <br />There were 418 homes and busi- <br />nesses lost and 438 vehicles, accord- <br />ingto the USGS. <br />For more information on today's <br />memorial service visit www,19'lGblg <br />thompsonflood,org/, <br /> <br />Malikm4i.'RockyMountainNews.com <br />or 303-892.5264 <br /> <br />