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LONGMONT TIMES CALL 'Longmont, Colorado August 4, 1951 BRIDGES OUT WEST OF C1TY: SOUTH ST, VRAIN IS BLOCKED Water Rolls Across Pavement Last Night--Motorists Jammed Here--Railroad Tracks and tie Southwest of city and Near Lyons Washed Out--Many Houses Isolated South of Town Stranded--Hotels Tres- Me Flash floods roaring down from the mountains swelled every river and creek in the Longmont district last niqht and drove Dry creek, which crosses Highw~y 87 a mile and a half south of Longmont, into a rnging torrent. W~ter in the usually dry creek bed burst its banks, swept away crops and livestock, drove about 50 people frOm their homes, and stranded others for hours as prisoners within their houses. Traffic. telephone. light and water ser~ices were disrupted and property damage. as yet undetermined. resulted. Railroad tracks .od a trestle southwest of tOwn and near Lyons were also washed out._. Tiny Dry creek grew to eorrential proportions until it was over a quarter of a mile wide south of Burlington schaal, sending traffic on alternate routes over Highway 185 or the Foothills road to reach Denver from Longmant. Swelled by the unusually heavy rainfall overnight Thursday and Saturday morning, Dry creek raged to greater depths when a flash flood fell in the Alkali Flats region near Haystach mountain late Friday evening. Walter Iverson, living south of Dry creek on the east side of Highway 87 at the old F. J. Schweiger farm, received a call fram George Richart about 9 p. m., reporting the flash flood roaring down the creek bed. Iverson, who had retired, said he got up and, when he couldn't reach his father, Chris Iverson, who lives a mile east of Highway 87. or his brother, Ray, who lives just nOrth of the creek, west of Highway 87, called Carl Swanson, for whOm he feeds cattle, SWanson and his son, Marvin, who farm a half-mile east of the highway, went immediately to Iverson's assistance. The three men turned the 140 head of cattle, belonging to Swanson, out into the fields. St. Vrain Canon Blocked The South st. Vrain canon was made impassable by the violence of the swirling flood, which ripped out entire sectiOns of the roadway. Rain washed boulders onto the road in many places, some of them as large as an autOmobile. Road crews were using dynamite on these this morning, but no estimate was made as to when the highway would be open to traffic. Very little actual damage was done to the North St. Vrain highway. The oil surface held up, but was covered with mud and small rocks in places. SOme shoulders on the highway we~e reported to be soft. state Patrolman F. I. Hinnegan reported at 6:45 p. m. that the North st. vrain route was passable, but hazardous. Volunteers answered a request for help in removing merchandise from b~5cmcnt rOOms of Lyons stores, and were able to move perish- able it~ms to safety before the flood took over. According to O. J. Ramey, the water in the Lyons business district camo only frOm the immediate hills which rim the town and was not v~ry serious. Crest of the flood was reDorted reached at 9:51 p.m,..