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<br />flOOD DESCRIPTIONS <br />little information is ~vailable relative to historic <br />Iloodlng On the little Thompson River probably b~cause of its <br />rural nature which has resulted in little flood damage during flood <br />events, SomefIOOdacCQuntsare,however,avallabI6oothp.Aig <br />Thompson River. ThefollowingaccountsoffJoodingonthe8ig <br />Thompson River are reoresentativeol typical floods tor which <br />information Is available. Many ot these ~ccounts do not descri be <br />specifically accounts of flooding within the study reach of this <br />report. TheydO,however,indicatethatfloodconditionsexlsted <br />upstream thereby Implying that floodwaters would be passing through <br />the study reach, <br /> <br />The 8ig Thompson River overflowed its banks and THE LYONS RECORDER <br />of 9 June of that year related "at a point near the river about <br />hllltamilefromloveland,ahouse,with itsoccupants,""s..ashed <br />from its foundationandCllrriednearlyhlllfamlledo..nstream. , <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />. . <br /> <br />During ..Idesnread floods of May and June 1854, the low- <br />landS ot the Big Thompson River valley ..ere flooded, settlers' <br />cablnswerewashedaway,andfarmlllndsdamaged. According to THE <br />LOVELAND REPORTER of 7 June 1894, the flOOd ot 31 "lay _ I June of <br />that year destroyed a dam near the canyon northwest of Loveland and <br />th.., river was "tully hal f a mi Ie wIde". On 7 Ju I y 19M, a di s~ <br />ch<:rgo ot 6,000 c. f .s. ..",,; recorded at the DraKe station, A bri~ge <br /> <br />June 1923. Rains In the Big Thompson besln during <br />7 through 10 June resulted in a total of 2.49 inches et Estes Perk, <br />2.99 inches at long's Peek, end 2.80 lnches at W~terda!e. The <br />heaviest raIn came on 9 June at these stations with 1.45, 2.55, <br />and 1.97 lnchesrespectlvoly. Flows past Orak.., of 3,590c.f.s. <br />were reoorded at 6:00 P.M. on 9 June and again at 6:00 A.M. on <br />10 June. Probably greater flo..s occurred between those hours. <br />Acoording to the LOVELANOREf'QRTER-HERALDot 9 June 1923: "At <br />four O'Clock (todIlY) floodwaters from the Big Thompson. . . had <br />reachedWestFirstStreetlntheclty . the cernent paving <br />south of Loveland is covered wIth water to ~ depth of over a foot, <br />The Estes P3rk r03d and the valley near the plaster mills are <br /> <br />covered." <br /> <br />upstream of Drake on >1 July <br /> <br />"a IO.footwallofwaters..eptdown <br /> <br />September:938.0n2Sept&<r,berdll",rhe"vycloud- <br />bursts, the 81g Thompson River valley waS again floaded. The <br />highway In the canyon waS damaoed and closed tor repairs, Many <br />bridges wore destroyed and some homes were damaged. On II and 12 <br />September, heavy rains eoain caused serious flash flooding 1n the <br />canyon and the valley. Serious damages to the agricultural crops <br />resulted In the plains area. <br /> <br />near Drake ..as washed out. <br /> <br />Th.., flood peak lasted only II "f..,w hours". <br />August 1919 described a Cloudburst <br /> <br />THE LOVELAND DAILY HERALD of <br /> <br />through the <br />plains are,). <br /> <br />canyon." <br /> <br />There waS no mention of damage In the <br /> <br />June 19~1. r,An~r~1 rains '~om 2 t~~o~gh 7 J~~c <br />measured a total of 5.29 inches at Longmont and 3.02 inches at Fort <br />Collins. Apparently, tho=untaln regions received less, as Estes <br />Park reoorted 2,45 Inch~s for the 6~day periOd with 1.2 inches <br />received .on ~ June. Hlqh water destroyed the recorder at the Orakp <br />St~tion S(I thp tl~~ and rate cf the peak flo.. was not recorded. <br /> <br />June 1949. Heavy rains in the heddwaters areaot <br />the Big Thompson River basin resulted In a peak discharge on 4 June <br />ot 3,330c.f.s. at the rJrake station and l,l:;Qc.t.s. at tho Lovo. <br />land station. Rainfall amounts on 4 June..ere 2,75 inChes at Estes <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />" <br />