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<br />Surnmerlike temperatures sent another surge of melted
<br />snow into Colorado's already swollen rivers Tuesday,
<br />multiplying fears of flooding and spurring riverside com-
<br />munities to add more sandbags to heighten embankments.
<br />The National Weather Service warned that by Wednes-
<br />day morning, the Colorado River wOuld"be at flood stage
<br />from Kremmling to the Utah state line. '
<br />Delta and Montrose counties have declared emergen-
<br />cies and asked for statebelp, said Dave Lawton of the
<br />state's Disaster Emergency Service. ,
<br />In Routt County, a mudslide took out a 160-foot section
<br />of Oak Creek's, waterline and flood waters from the
<br />Yampa River ,submerged the sewage treatIpent plant
<br />Tuesday. ' ' ' . ..
<br />In Wyoming. the tiny town of Baggs on the northwest.
<br />ern Colorado border was inundated by the LitUe Snake
<br />River, with water levels reaching a foot in some residen-
<br />tiala~. ,-
<br />And in Utah, new mudslides oozed into towtlS around
<br />the state and a 31-year-Old cons~ction worker was killed
<br />Monday night near Tooele, southwest of Salt Lake City,
<br />when ,a shifting mudslide shoved his bulldozer end ove,
<br />end. Heavy mudflows Tuesday prevented authorities from
<br />, recovering his body. . '
<br />He,was the fourth fatality resulting from this spring's
<br />heavy melt-off. ' .
<br />More than 40 families were evacuated in Vail Tuesday
<br />after .a natural dike collapsed and sent a 6-foot high wall
<br />_I . . ~ .... _ :_~_ ... .rI_;"__ h^.......~ o~id..
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<br />Page 14 - Rocky Mountain News; Denver, Colo.
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<br />Wednesday, May 16,1984
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<br />· 'tY!!!!m...~~De towns g~ .on floodale.rt-
<br />dents and volunteers scurried to move furniture outside, was one foot uD<jer the flood stage and the'Uncompaghre . good,", said Deputy Sheriff Bob Dillon. "The,. don't have
<br />Terrett said.. , was running over its banks. any water. They are hauling it in. It just doesn't look'real
<br />"I had just finished cleaning the porch when 1 heard a "We're just on the verge of everything going wild," said good. .' ,
<br />big crash up the draw," said Robbie Peters, one of the Delta Sheriff Richard Miklich. "We're expecting some "And the river is expected to rise another six inches
<br />residents on Chamonix Lane. "And 1 saw trees and rocks rain and if that happens, we're going to be in trouble." ' tonight," he said. "We have had quite a few minor mud-
<br />crash on my way up there.". The Paonia Dam, upriver from the town of Paonia on slldes and county roads closed and culverts pulled out:'
<br />The Vail Public Works Department is working to divert the North Fork of the GiInnison, was threatening to over- A makeshift dike system through Oak Creek protects
<br />the flow of. mud to ,a harmless path between residenees, flow within the next few'days, 'he said,' ' ' ,the low-lying downtown area. The town of 1,000 also
<br />,said town engineer Bill Andrews. ' "We're evacuating some of the motels down along the asked Gov. Richard D. Lamm on Monday for state help in
<br />In Delta, where the Uncoinpahgre River started flood- , North Fork below the dam right now," said Miklich. building a temporary bridge over Oak <;:reek. which nms
<br />ing last week, convicts from the state honor farm Tuesday A 3-inch gas line that crossed a stream in nearby OIathe through the town, . .
<br />helped fortify the sandbag dikes that protect portiQllS of ruptured, knocking out service to 35 homes.' 'Just north of Oak Creek, some 100 men were working
<br />the town.. . ' In Mesa County, the search for Mike Lane, 38, missing around the clock to shore up the earth fill beneath tracks
<br />Five families, evacuated five days ago because of the since Saturday evening when he was swept into Buzzard - for the ,Rio Grande Railroad, according to Doug Ball, a
<br />flooding, still were unable to return to their homes, said. Creek, was thwarted again b'y ,the roiling waters.' Rio Grande spokestnan.
<br />. Undersheriff .william Blair. "They flew over the Collbran area looking for the body, Ball said the men were using heavy machinery ,to
<br />. "Peo Ie shouldn't get real panicky at this point. Tliey but that is about the closest you can get," said Sheriff's r~inf?rce the tracks with desk-size chunks of concrete and
<br />should fyst hang ill there," said Blair. "It baS coolild down '.Capt.Bob Silva. . " ' fill dirt. ,
<br />and 'mabe things are goillg to drop down a IitUe.'" He said many creeks m the area were ready to overflow For part of Tuesday, th~ Colorado State P~trol closed
<br />Y , and a rainstorm hit the area late Tuesday. Colorado 13 and 789 runnmg north from CraIg, Colo" to
<br />The town is located at the confluence of the Uncom." "It is Dot looking good," said Silva. Baggs, Wyo., because of additional flooding in the Baggs
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