FLOOD02478

• County: Statewide
• Community: State of Colrado
• Stream Name: Arkansas River
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: Flood Report-Arkansas River Basin Flood of May 1955
• Date: 5/1/1955
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: COE
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

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4-25. National Guardsmen, in cooperation with city and county organi-
zations, patrolled the flooded areas at La Junta, Las Animas, and Trinidad,
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and assisted in, evacuating residents and their belongings from danger areas.
About 700 persons were evacuated from ,the North La Junta flooded area, 200
from La Junta, 40 from Las Animas, 100 from Starkville, and about 500 from
the danger area in Trinidad.

4-26. Charitable organizations provided relief and assistance during
and after the flood. The American Red Cross, together with its lo+al
chapters, provided food, clothing, medicine, and housing for affected
persons: and after the flood, relocated several families who lost h1ouses.
The Salvation Army and local groups provided assistance toevacueee.

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4-27. Residents of Las Animas hastily constructed a short levee which
prevented several thousand dollars of damage.

4-28. Flood photoeraphs. Selected
by a newspaper photographer and Corps of
on plates 12-17.

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pictures taken during the ,flood
Engineers personnel are shown

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V DAMAGES PREVENTED BY FLOOD CONTROL WORKS :
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5-01. Federal flood control works, Federal flood control works on
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the Arkansas River and tributaries in Colorado are John Martin Dam 'on the
Arkansas River, located about 58 miles above the Colorado-Kansas State
line, and Pinon Canon.Dam, situated on Pinon Canon Arroyo immediately
above the city of Trinidad. John Martin Dam afforded complete con1i.rol of
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runoff originating above it and preventeq damages estimated at $11,160,000
in the reaches of the Arkansas River below the dam, as shown in table 14.
Pinon Canon Dam had little effect on this flood since the rainfall :over
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the drainage ar~a above the dam was relatively light. Several sma~l
Federally-constructed emergency flood control projects were effect~ve in
reducing damage to bridge abutments throughout the flooded area and a
small channel straightening projeot on the Arkansas River at Las Aqimas
was effective in reducing the flood stage at that point.

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5-02. Non-Federal oroiects. Several small irrigation reservdirs
e'xist in the area. These all retained water which would have otherfwise
cQntributed minor amounts to the flood. The most important of these is
Cucharas Reservoir, with a capacity of about 20,000 acre-feet, on Oucharas
River, a tributary of Huerfano River., The only major non-Federal ~lood
control works existing on the Arkansas ~iver and tributaries in Co~orado,
are the Pueblo Floodway on the Arkansas River at Pueblo and Barrie~ Dam,
about 5 miles above Pueblo. However, since the major portion of the
May 1955 flood originated below Pueblo and flood stages were not re~ched
there, these projects had no effect on the flood; Numerous minor f~ood
control works constructed by non-Federal interests in the area were; in-
effective and suffered severe damage. :

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