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<br />Person Interviewed: Al Fedel, age 80 <br />Location of Interview: City Hall <br />Age at time of 1929 event: 10 <br />Lifetime Resident of Ouray <br />Interview team: Larry Lang, CWCB; Carolyn Adams, CWCB; David Vince, City Official <br /> <br />Experiences: <br />. Flood always goes straight toward the Uncompahgre. <br />. Debris piles up above the flume on Portland Creek. <br />. When debris from Portland Creek blocked 6th St., floodwaters headed down 5th Ave. and 4th <br />Ave. toward main. Water and debris also continued to flow down the flume. <br />. Skyrocket Creek notch cut was done after the 1929 flood. <br />. Mary Fedel (mother) may have pictures. <br />. Front 1/4 of the flood wave carried debris. <br />. The front contained most of the timber and rock. <br />. Back 3/4 to 1/2 of the flood wave ran clean. <br />. Center section of the city was dry and the section south of 4th Street was dry during 1929 and <br />1982. <br />. Debris stays in the flume to Main St., the highway bridges then block the flume. <br />. Rain lasted 3-4 days in 1929, and approximately 2 weeks in 1982. <br />. Cascade Creek drops a lot at the mouth of the first falls. <br />. Debris is silty-clay and up to 6" diameter cobble. <br />. Oak Creek debris is always timber. <br />. There were 1200 people in Ouray from 1925-1942. <br /> <br />Quotes: <br />. "...rode a 12'xI2' timber down the Uncompahgre like a canoe." <br />. "Debris backs up from the Uncompahgre River to Portland Creek." <br />. "Velocity is very fast on Portland Creek. Water went from the mouth of the canyon to Main <br />St. in 3 seconds." (Approx. 100 mph) <br /> <br />Summary <br />1) The large debris piles up at the mouth of the creek, and creates some damning. Floodwaters <br />then flow through or over the dams. The debris that makes it past the initial debris dams is <br />silty clay and cobble up to 6" in diameter. This debris moves downstream to the <br />Uncompahgre River. <br /> <br />2) Velocities are very fast. Mr. Fedel estimates 100 mph or so, but realistically, that value is <br />probably around 20-30 mph. <br /> <br />3) Debris materials always seem to load the front 1/4 of the flood wave. The last 1/2 of the <br />flood wave is clean and clear of debris. <br /> <br />4) The 1929 flood lasted 2-3 hours. <br />