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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />On the night of July 31, 1976, the eve of Colorado's centennial, <br /> <br />torrential rainfall (photo, page 5) over the Big Thompson Canyon resulted <br /> <br />in the worst disaster in the state's history. The Big Thompson Canyon <br /> <br />is a narrow, steep-walled valley which extends from Estes Park eastward <br /> <br />down to the city of Loveland eventually joining the South Platte River. <br /> <br />The reach of river most severely affected by the flood was in the Big <br /> <br />Thompson Canyon (see sketch map, back cover). Scenic beauty, clean mountain <br /> <br />air, and good trout fishing attract many visitors as well as permanent resi- <br /> <br />dents to the Big Thompson and its tributary North Fork. In addition to many <br /> <br />individual cabins, several small villages including Glen Haven on the North <br /> <br />Fork, and Glen Comfort, Drake, Midway and Cedar Cove on the mainstream are <br /> <br />located on the narrow canyon flood plain adjacent to the river. <br /> <br />Rainfall produced by the July 31 storm was extremely variable with <br /> <br />some locations receiving as much as 12 inches of precipitation while others <br /> <br />received hardly more than a trace. This spottiness tended to increase <br /> <br />damage and loss of life. Many campers, residents and other occupants of <br /> <br />the flood plain refused to vacate their low lying terrain even after successive <br /> <br />warnings of the approaching flood wave. Consider, for example, the village <br /> <br />of Drake where only light showers had occurred prior to 9 pm when a flood <br /> <br />peak of 31,200 c.f.s. arrived. Also adding to the losses was the fact that <br /> <br />the National Weather Service did not issue a flash flood warning until <br /> <br />11:10 pm, long after the flood had swept down the canyon. <br /> <br /> <br />Flood depths of 20 feet and possibly more (photo, top of page 6) with <br /> <br /> <br />velocities exceeding 25 feet per second ravaged the canyon floor. Tribu- <br /> <br /> <br />taries, normally of minor importance, became raging torrents (photo, bottom <br /> <br />3 <br />