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flood DeserlDtions Th~ followIng flood acco..mts are typieal of flood events which have occurred along the Sout~ Platte River In and adjacent to Morgan and Washington Counties, but are, by no means, a eomplete history of such. They are presented here to give serne insight as to th~ source and magnitude of floodwaters from the South Platte River affecting Morgan and Washington COunties. 1844 - Floodwaters purportedly covered the bottom lands In the Denver vlelnlty from bluff to bluff. 1864 - Three separate floods caused by heavy raIns over snow occurred during May and June On the South Platte River. A resident of Plattevllle In Weld County later described the flood of mid-May at that location as the largest flood he had observed prior to 1925. Flooding occurred in late May and again In early to mld- June. The South Platte River flood was augmented downstream from Denver by trIbutary inflow from both the mounteln and plains trIbu- taries. 1816 - Thi;! flood of late May 1816 resulted from rainfall on snowpack. It was reputed to have been the highest flood since 1864 In at least the Denver area. 1894 _ Heavy rainfall over the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains caused flooding on the South Platte River in late ~~y and ~arly June. Floodwaters purportedly covered hundreds of acres In the Brush vicInity. Old timers said the South Platte River was "fullv two miles wide". The Fort M:>rgan Times of 6 June 1694 stated that "for 24 hours on 2 June, the flood tOUChed the caps on the top ofthebrldgeplllng". 1921 - Heavy rainfall over much of the uppor South Platte River basin caused flooding In Weld COunty in early June. Betw~en Brighton and Orchard, the wooden bridges wera Impassable; two were destroyed and the approaches to thc others were destroye~ for a distance of several hundred yards. At Fort Morgan the water surface 9 crest "3S cornpar3ble to that of tile flood of 1894. Tile discharge of this flood at Kersey and at Bal~ac waS the largest ever recorded at those locations except for the flood of "'''y 1973 and the flood of June 1965 respectively. 19J5 _ Rains of cloudburst Intensity over the b3slns of the plains tributaries to the South Platte River east of Denver occurred on JO-31 May following the wettest May In Colorado in 46 years. It was reported that a "vorltable wall of water" aDpeared on Bljou Creek about 4 miles upstream from Its confluence with the South Platte River. The flOOd crest reBclled Fort Morgan on 31 May and was reported to be 10 feet above flood stage havIng a discharge of 64,300 cubic feet per second. The flood crest attenuated rapidly as it flowed down tile South Platte River from Fort Morgan. 1936 _ Heavy rainfall during the period from 30 August to 4 SeDtember over mueh of the upper South Platte River basin caused flooding on many of the mountain streams tributary to the South Platte River as well as the South Platte River itself. Relatively minor floodIng was reported on the South Platte River. 1942 _ The flood of April-May on the South Platte RIver was caused by excessive rainfall and snowmelt. The sustained high flows created considerable damage mainly due to erosion. Some levee failure occurred. Falling temDeratures In late April turned the rainfall to snow as well as subsiding the melt of the existing snow~ pack thus preventing more serious flooding. I;..; _ ;;,;a.., r..lnf::O!! over'!' .....!tln!! snowllack caused flood- ing un the South Platte River from mld-~~y to late June from Littleton, ColoradO to North Platte, NebraSka. Considerable da~ge was Incurred bv homes, farm buIldings, and crops alung thot reach of the river. 1951 _ Intense local rains over the Sand Croek basin caused floodiog on the South Platte Rlvor for a dlstanee downstream from Sand Crook. High rural damages were Incurred In ~ loeatlons: !'''';5 _ H.."vy t<'l t<'lrrontlal rainfall over lllrge portions of tho South Platto River baSin creeta~ extensive flooding Illong the . "