Laserfiche WebLink
<br />-- - -' - <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />destroyed. Agricultural crops, irrigation facilities and land were destroyed in many areas. The <br />same kinds of damages were experienced in the remaining eight (8) communities, which were <br />declared under FEMA Disaster 1186-CO. <br /> <br />Presidential Disaster Declaration Overview <br /> <br />Once the resources of local govemment are exceeded in a flood disaster, the local government <br />can declare a local emergency. The communities can then turn to the State of Colorado and <br />request state assistance. When the State's resources are insufficient to provide all of the <br />requested assistance, the State can request a Presidential Disaster Declaration. Following the <br />July 28th flooding in Fort Collins and Larimer County, the July 29th_30th flooding in Morgan <br />County, and the July 30th_31st flooding in Sterling and Logan County, the State of Colorado <br />made such a formal request to President Clinton. <br /> <br />The Disaster Declaration means that several kinds of financial assistance are made available to <br />Colorado and the affected local governments. Various kinds of assistance funds include Public <br />Assistance, Individual Assistance, and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). <br /> <br />CWCR Involvement <br /> <br />Immediately following the Fort Collins Flood Disaster, CWCB staff was in the field beginning <br />the process of documenting what had happened. On July 29th, several field measurements were <br />made at various locations on Spring Creek in order to estimate peak flows during the previous <br />evening's floods. That was just the beginning oftechnical assistance. <br /> <br />While CWCB staffwas driving back to Denver from Fort Collins on the evening of July 29th, the <br />storms that would cause flooding in Weldona and Sterling were forming. On July 30th a CWCB <br />staff member drove to Weldona and began documenting that flood. Meanwhile, another staff <br />member was on his way to Atwood where the Pawnee Creek flood was making its slow trip <br />toward Sterling. That evening (actually until 2am on the morning of July 31st) two staff <br />members monitored the Sterling flood and assisted local officials. <br /> <br />The flood in Sterling took long enough to arrive there that the CWCB could provide some <br />assistance during the flood fight. Once the flood peak had passed through Sterling, the primary <br />forms of technical assistance were flood documentation and guidance, and coordination for local <br />and state offic:.lls, and FEMA officials trying to begin the recovery process and working [heIr <br />way through the regulatory requirements of the Disaster Declaration. From the beginning of <br />August, numerous trips were made to Fort Collins, Sterling, and Weldona to meet with local <br />officials, other state officials, and/or federal officials or to measure high water marks for flow <br />estimates. Considerable effort was also spent on conducting rainfall "bucket surveys." These <br />are interviews with all parties who may have rainfall data (formal rain gage measurements or <br />more informal measurements) in order to draw preliminary isohytal (contour lines of equal <br />rainfall) maps for each storm. <br /> <br />There is still a great deal of technical assistance work that has not been completed. Flood and <br />rainfall documentation has not been completed for all 13 counties. Reports that consolidate the <br />