FLOOD00116 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

~ 31. 1919 - The flood of July 31, 1919 was caused by a-cIoudburst a ahort distance above Drake. The storm was of such ahort duration that the mean daily discharge for July 31 was only 490 cfa, while the peak discharge recorded for that same day was a,ooo efa. There were no records of property damage estimates, but the Loveland Daily herald of August 1, 1919, stated ... ~The road bed was washed out to bedrock. During the worst of the flood, the entire road bed was covered with 2 feet of water, except at the highest points." September 1-4, 1938 - The Big Thompson drainage basin was one of the areas of heaviest precipitation during the general storm of September 1-4, as reported by the Weather Bureau. Rainfall accumulation was 2.95 inches at Estes Park and 3.16 inches near Long's Peak. At the Loveland filter plant, 8.7 inches of rainfall was reported. September 10, 1938 - A second storm also occurred in the foothllls area on September 10, 1938. This storm was basically a cloudburst over many tributaries where flood flaws were of short duration. The major damage from this flood was to the highway within the canyon, which was washed aut in ten locations. June 4-6, 1949 - Steady rains amounting to 3.06 inches ln three days fell in Loveland. A total rain of 1.72 inches fell in the 24-hour period of June 5-6. Most of the damage reported was to the lowlands along the Big Thompson River. Flood waters went over the road within the canyon, but only for a short time. August 3-4, 1951 - Torrential rains in the Cedar Cove area and the breaking of the Buckhorn reservoir combined to form the worst flood in Loveland's history. A total of 4.05 inches of rain fell on Loveland in less than 12 hours. An 8-foot wall of water swept a car off u. S. Highway 34 near the plaster mill, drowning three people. High-velocity flood waters and floating debris caused widespread damage to roads, bridges, crops and personal property. All tall, the flood caused $600,000 worth af damage in Loveland and seven deaths. June 21-22, 1941 - Heavy rains started about 11:00 p.m. an June 21 and fell for approximately 3 hours along the Big Thompson River between the Forks Hotel and the municipal hydro-electric plant, near Cedar Cove. No rain fell in either Estes Park or Loveland. By 2:00 a.m. of June 22, the river had reachEd flood stage and continued at that level until 6:00 a.m., when the crest of the flood had passed through Loveland. Flood damage was primarily to bridges and roads, although the Slaughter- houses east of Loveland were also flooded. July 31 - Autust 1, 1976 - The reoent flood of July 31 - August 1, 19 6 was one of the worst natural disasters in the history of ColoradO. Intense precipitation over an approximate 60 square mile area between Lake Estes and Drake, with rainfall depths up to 12 inChes, generated the extremely high flood discharges. This flood is known to have taken 139 lives while 5 persons remain missing. Property damage was estimated at $16.5 million while hundreds of people were left homeless (Ref. 4). Over 200 residential structures were damaged or destroyed by the flood while nearly 1,200 land parcels were adversely affected. The amount of human suffering cannot be estimated. There are no real words to fully describe the devastation of July 31 - August 1, 1976. July 19, 1945 - A storm of cloudburst proportions struck the watershed of Cedar Creek. Two inChes of rain fell in a few minutes causing a wall of water several feet high to strike the Big Thompson River. Official reports state that the river had risen from a flow of 462 cubic feet per second on the preceeding day to 5000 to 6000 cubic feet per second when the flood occurred. Flood waters choked the intakes to the Loveland Municipal Filter Plant. Road beds and bridges were heavily damaged by debris and erosion by high-velocity flood waters. HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC DETERMINATIONS , I I Flood Characteristics Major floods on the Big Thompson River and tributaries are caused by intense rainfall from locali~ed thunderstorms over the basin. The floods caused by such events will -8- -9-