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<br />FLOODS OF 1965 IN THE UNITED STATES <br /> <br />FLOODS OF JUNE 1965 IN ARKANSAS <br />RIVER BASIN, COLORADO, KANSAS, <br />AND NEW MEXICO <br /> <br />By R. J. SNIPES and others <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />Maximum discharges during the floods of June 1965 in the Arkansas River basin in <br />Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico were greater than those previously known at 49 of the 137 <br />locations where flood information was obtained. Property damage exceeded $60 million, and <br />16 lives were lost. At many sites, peak discharges exceeded by severalfold the discharges that <br />may be expected, on the average, once in 50 years; yet, the 1965 discharges could be exceeded <br />in the near future. <br />Heavy rainfall of more than 12 inches in several areas and more than 18 inches near Two <br />Buttes, Colo., caused severe flooding in the Arkansas River basin in Colorado and Kansas and <br />the Canadian River basin in New Mexico. Snowmelt runoff added only token amounts to the <br />flood peaks. The 1965 peak discharges along the main stem of the Arkansas River in Colorado <br />were less than those in 1921, but tributary peaks were probably greater at many sites. In New <br />Mexico the peak discharges exceeded those for the destructive floods of 1904 at some locations, <br />by manyfold at some sites. <br />Descriptions of the storms and floods, detailed streamflow records, and information on <br />damages and flood frequency are included in this report. Comparisons of the magnitude of the <br />floods are made, and aU indicate that an outstanding hydrologic event occurred. <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />DESTRUCTIVE FORCES AT WORK <br />The floods of June 1965 in the Arkansas River basin in Colorado, Kan- <br />sas, and New Mexico resulted in vast deslmction and personal loss at many <br />localions. Many individuals' reactions to Iheir terrifying experiences were <br />typical of those resulting from similar flood disasters which occur <br />periodically in areas prone to unusually heavy storms. One such experience <br />was related in the Chronicle News, Trinidad, Colo., June 18, 1965, follow- <br />ing Ihe oUlslanding flood on Raton Creek, a lributary to the Purgatoire <br />River in Colorado. <br />Thursday [June 17, 1965] the water was running about normal, or maybe a bit higher. I had <br />started to read the Chronicle News. ,. ,.,. I got curious about the Creek [Raton Creek at <br />Starkville, Colo.], it was raining you know. I had pulled the blinds down and then I got up to <br />look out the front door, and there it was coming up as fast as everything. By then it was already <br />DI <br />