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<br />everything not firmly attached to the soil with it"
<br />"It carried out the toll bridge at Laporte at a time when the movement of emigration westward stalled on the
<br />bluffs south of Lllporte On the 9th of June, an extraordinary rainstorm' set in on the watershed of the upper part
<br />of the river, melted the snow in the tligher altitudes and an enormous volume of water laden with driftwood,
<br />poured into the already swollen channel, and the sullen roar of the rushing stream as it burst out of the canyon
<br />was heard for a long distance, On reaching the plainS, the water spread out and submerged the bottom lands
<br />from bluff to bluff to a depth of several feet The storm occurred in the afternoon and the raging torrent, , ,
<br />swept down through the soldier's camp (at Laporte) in the ni!lht alrnost without warning '" the campgrounds
<br />were cornpletely submerged and only the roofs of the cabins, , , were visible, , Fortunlltely, no lives were lost,
<br />but there were several narrow escapes by the settlers on the bottom lands,"
<br />
<br />Flood of May 1876, The GreelevTribune of 24 MoY 1876 reported the local river bottom all under water from
<br />record rains,
<br />
<br />Flood of June 1884, The Boyd farm northwest of Greeley was said to be entirely under water for the first
<br />time from a combination of snowmelt runoff and r<linfal!.
<br />
<br />Flood of June 1891, A dam failure in the upper bosin waslled out the stream gage so no accurate-discharge
<br />could be determined, The peak discharge was later estimated frorn a high water mark to be 21,000 cubic feet
<br />per second,
<br />
<br />Flood of 21 Mav 1904, Flooding in the study reach on 21 May 1904 resulted from rains of "cloudburst
<br />intensity" in the foothills at about 7,000 feet elevation durin!) a period of rapid snowmelt on the headwaters of
<br />North Fork and Boxelder Creek, Rainfall of 2,66 inches was recorded in the North Fork area, A peak discharge
<br />of 20,000 cubic feet per second was estirnated at Liverrnore on the North Fork, and a peak discharge of 7,500
<br />cubic feet per second was estimated on Boxelder CrE~ek near its mouth, Fortunately, rainfall in the lower basin
<br />was moderate w~h only 0.21 inches recorded at For! Collins and only 0,09 inches recorded at Greeley, or this
<br />flood might have been of even greater magnitude, Damage was heavy at Fort Collins and Boxelder Creek,
<br />downstrearn from Fort Collins, contributed high flows, The Greeley Tribune stated: "The Boxelder, a small
<br />stream ordinarily only a few feet wide, was tearing down through a fertile valley filled from bluff to bluff with a
<br />sheet of water Il mile wide, carrying buildings and bridges away Below the mouth of Boxelder Creek
<br />floodwaters were reported to be 1,5 mile wide in ploces, Every bridge between Fort Collins and Greeley was
<br />destroyed, The flood reached Fort Collins late in the afternoon on 20 May and the crest arrived at Greeley
<br />about 8:30 a,m, on 21 May, Water backed up tJehind a culvert at the Union Pacific Railroad track and
<br />overflowed a la(ge area in the city, Lowlands downstream of the railroad were also flooded with houses
<br />submerged to the windowsills, Flooding continued until noon, then receded rapidly, Total damages for the-
<br />basin were estimated at $183,650 including $1,000 at Gre'~ley and $33,000 for crops and livestock,
<br />
<br />Flood of 24-26 June 1917, The flood of 1917, reported greatest near Greeley, was caused by rain falling
<br />on a heavy snow blanket in the mountains and supplemented by local rains in the lower portion of the basin,
<br />The county surveyor estimated a peak discharge of 13,000 cubic feet per second near Greeley, but the peak
<br />at the Greeley gage near the mouth of the stream was 4,240 cubic feet per second on 25 June, Total damages
<br />for the basin were estimated at $19,000 with $3,000 at Greeley,
<br />
<br />Flood of 10-18 June 1923, Snow cover in the basin was about 50 percent above normal in the Spring of
<br />1923 and June was one of the wettest of record, Flooding along the Poudre caused $13:~,500 in total
<br />damages in the basin including $5,000 at Greeley, The Fort Collins Express, 17 June 1923, in a dispatch from
<br />Greeley stated:
<br />
<br />Colorado Flood
<br />Hydrology MaTlual
<br />
<br />4,1'1
<br />
<br />DRAFf
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