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<br /> <br />many houses on the south bank near the river. The estimated <br />damage was over $600,000. <br />On August 23, 1923, a flood caused by the failure of the <br />Apishapa Dam on the Apishapa River produced a peak of 60,000 cfs <br />at La Junta. At Las Animas, there was minimal damage to houses <br />north of the city. This indicates an elevation of less than <br />3892 feet and a probable discharge of less than 25,000 cfs. <br />Another flood on August 8, 1936 produced a peak at La Junta <br />of 33,000 cfs and caused damage to houses north of Las Animas. <br />An emergency levee was constructed and no damage was caused in <br />Las Animas. The probable flow was less than 30,000 cfs. <br />On April 25, 1942, a minor flood occurred on the Arkansas <br />along with a major flood on the Purgatoire River. The discharge <br />of the Arkansas at Las Animas was 23,600 cfs with no damage to <br />the city. <br />On May 20, 1955, the second largest reported flood of the <br />Arkansas at Las Animas occurred as a result of heavy rainstorms <br />northwest and southwest of Pueblo. The peak discharge at Las <br />Animas was 44,000 cfs which reached an elevation of 3893.6 feet <br />at the highway bridge, north of the city. The flood would have <br />inundated the north-central portion of the city south to Fourth <br />and Bent, but a group of volunteers constructed an emergency <br />levee on the west side of the south approach to the highway <br />bridge. The levee has an elevation of 3895 feet and extends <br />westward to connect with an irrigation dike. This combination <br />successfully prevented the flood waters from reaching the city. <br />A minor flood occurred on May 17, 1957 with a peak discharge <br />of 21,480 cfs. This flood caused no damage to Las Animas, <br />primarily due to the levee constructed in 1955 and to channel <br />modifications made by the Corps of Engineers in 1956. <br />The most recent flood on the Arkansas River at Las Animas <br />occurred on June 18 and 19, 1965. There were two peaks, the first <br />was 19,800 cfs from rainstorms south of La Junta and the second <br />was 22,100 cfs from rainstorms south of Colorado Springs. These <br />peaks caused no damage to the City of Las Animas, due to the <br />1955 levee. The elevation of this flood was 3894 feet at the <br /> <br />7 <br />