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<br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />i <br /> <br />II. LOSSES DUE TO FLOODING, 1965 <br /> <br />The flc'~ of 1965 was widespread and impacted most of the state of <br /> <br />Colorado including both the South Platte and the Arkansas basins. The <br /> <br />greatest damage to the metro Denver area resulted from the storm of June <br /> <br />17th, 1965. The losses resulting from the June flooding can best be understood <br /> <br />from a description of the storm, the streams involved, mitigative measures <br /> <br />in existen=e and the degree of development on populated areas exposed to <br /> <br />the flood. <br /> <br />The Storm <br /> <br />The floods were caused by a series of storms which built up and moved <br /> <br />northwards from the Texas-Mexico border. These meteorological conditions <br /> <br />induced an inflow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into Eastern <br /> <br />Colorado, then pushed this moisture up against the Front Range, Moisture <br /> <br />was pumped into the region for several days, through converging pressures <br /> <br />resulting in continuous heavy rainfall. The extent of the storm system and <br /> <br />its orientation is given in Figure 1. The"storm of June 17, which flooded <br /> <br />Denver, was centered near Castle Rock and extended north and south; the fringe <br /> <br />of the storm covered the Plum Creek and Cherry Creek Basins. The <br /> <br />storm did not hit Denver directly b'lt was concentrated mainly on eastern <br /> <br />and southeastern areas adjoining Denver4 Denver received less than two inches <br /> <br />of rainfall but areas to the south received much more. During the storm, <br /> <br />the actual rainfall was recorded by many amateur observers at various <br /> <br />places in the watershed and this was published in the June 18 issue of the <br /> <br />Rocky Mountain News. These measure~ents are shown in Figure 2. Later, <br /> <br />all the available data were compiled by the USGS in an isohyetal map <br /> <br />(lines of equal rainfall). These isohyets <br /> <br />are shown in Figure 1. The <br /> <br />maximum intensity of rainfall was in the Palmer Lake area; 14 inches fell <br /> <br />-8- <br />