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<br />FLOOD HISTORY <br /> <br />Little definitive data is available on past flooding in the Montrose <br /> <br />at'ea. There are no stream gaging stations or crest gages on any of the <br />study streams. Knowledge of past flooding in Montrose is primarily <br />based on precipitation records, accounts published in previous floodplain <br /> <br />reports, old newspaper articles, local histories, and the personal mE!mories <br /> <br />of a few long-time resi dents. <br /> <br />Rainfall records have been maintained by the Uncompahgre Valley Water <br /> <br />Users Association at North 6th Street and Park Avenue for over 57 years <br /> <br />and by the National Weather Service at the Montrose airport for ovel" 27 <br /> <br />years. These precipitation records were studied to dE'termine the dates <br /> <br />of the major recorded storms in the Montrose a rea. These dates, shown in <br /> <br />Table 4, were then used to search local ne~lspapers fot' descriptions of <br /> <br />flood events, if any. Four flood events which occurred in the years 1938, <br /> <br />1963, 1964 and 1967 were found and are descri bed below: <br /> <br />Flood of September 4, 1938 <br /> <br />Heavy rain on two consecutive days in September, 1938 caused flooding <br /> <br />from Dry Creek, as well as Montrose Arroyo. Available information -indi- <br /> <br />cates that "a portion of the City becamE~ a vast lake", and that runoff <br />flowed down several streets at one to four foot depths. Road and bri dge <br /> <br />damage was sustained, as well as considerable damage to private homes and <br /> <br />py'operty. (Reference 2) <br /> <br />-12 - <br />