Recent Floods Cause Severe Damage in Colorado

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Recent Floods cause severe damage in Colorado: Flood producing heavy rains in Fremont County beginning on July 6 caused unusually high flood flows in Brush Hollow Creek, Eightmile Creek, and Beaver Creek east of Canon City. County roads and at least two county bridges were heavily damaged or destroyed by high water, and localized flooding in Penrose damaged several apartments and a strip mall near the intersection of Highway 115 and Broadway. In Douglas County, destruction from surging floodwaters on July 7 wreaked havoc to Highway 67 and private property along West Creek near Deckers. It will cost millions to rebuild the highway and the work could take months to complete. At least 10 sections of road along a 10- inile stretch between West Creek Road and Deckers had been washed away. Unearthed culverts, rocks and uprooted trees were strewn across the highway. Along some portions, water continued to run along the top of the road and onto the other side. There were no reported injuries in the flooding. Governor Owens issued a disaster emergency order July 8 in response to the devastating floods Another storm packing rain and a tornado moved into southeast Colorado on July 9 as downpours north of Pueblo briefly closed an eight mile section of Interstate 25. The highway was closed around 5: ;0 p.m. and reopened about 90 minutes later. CWCB staff members have been working busily to respond to the flooding and to coordinate with local officials, the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, and FEMA regarding disaster declaration assistance and post-flood response needs. CWCB staff have: • Contacted local officials and Colorado Division of Emergency Management (CDEM) staff beginning Friday evening (July 7) when reports of heavy rain and flooding became apparent in Douglas County. Contacts were made to coordinate efforts, offer technical and mitigation assistance, and to collect more information regarding specific flood damage areas. • Monitored rainfall amounts and streamflow gages (DWR and USGS) via the Internet throughout the weekend. • Activated the CWCB Flood Response Program to allow for pre-contracted engineering assistance to be made available for the flooded areas. • Began flood documentation services Monday morning (7/10/06) to perform field sur~~eys, flag high water marks, compute indirect flow measurements gather scientific information and document actual damages. • Began the process of evaluating existing floodplain maps to determine their usefulness and accuracy in the flooded areas. Post-wildfire flood analyses were previously conducted for the Hayman Burn area to provide Douglas and Teller Counties with new flood hazard maps. Those maps were made available to the locals for floodplain management purposes and for emergency response purposes. • Attended a community meeting in the community of Westcreek with other officials to determine the current disaster status condition and to coordinate future recovery operations. • Contacted Douglas County engineering to offer grant application assistance for relocating a repetitive loss (flood prone) home. • Deployed a second team to assist with damage assessments, flood documentation, and flood mitigation recommendations for Penrose and surrounding areas in Fremont County. • Continued monitoring streamflow and weather information to assess flood potential along the Arkansas River below Pueblo. Several areas including Avondale and North La Junta are extremely flood prone during high water events.