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I 5 I THE LYONS RECORDER THE LYONS RECORDER THE LyONS RECORDER Lyons, Boulder County, Colorado Lyons, Boulder County, Colorado LYONS, BOULDER COUNTY. COLORADO I Saturday, August 2, 1919 Saturday,August 2, 1919 Saturday. August 9, 1919 I "TH~ WORS~ FLoOD LYONS HAS HAD S1NCE t894J 5 YEARS, GO THIS FALL;" SAYS AN OLD IMER. tET'S BE HANKFUL THAT No LIVES WERE LOST. CLOUD BURST NEAR LYONS HEAVY LOSS A THIRD DONrlPOUR I A SECOND FLOOD THURSDAY AS BAD AS THE FIRST ONE Lyons Visitd with Three F100ds within Five Days that were Similar in Destruction I SIX l~CIt:eS OF WATER AND t4UD PLUNGE INTO BUS!NESS HOUSES. ~he neaviest and mo~t destructive clou4 burst and dQWb poor of water in the meoory of the oldes~ inhabitants visited Lyons on Wednes~ay afternoon from 2=30 to 3:45 o'clock. It took o~t all the bridges on the. North St. Vrain for abo~t 5 ~le$ ~p and 5 miles down stream--woQden. iron and cement, all $uffered the same fate. The ~ngmont ~nd Lyons water mains up the canod were ~orn out in many places. lea~inq both t~s without water, which eonQition may exist for thirty days before the repairs can be mad.e, owing to sh.art.a~e ot workmen and the iromense amount of wor~ to be done. Tbe S~nd Flood Did Not confine Itself to the North St. Vrain But. Done Lots of n-"96 in South Canon by Injuring Approaches to ~rjdges an~ Washes in Road. "'lES fJAU CUT OFF WJmN BIG 'rHOMPSON BRIDG&S 00. "the third flood came down the t:.wo St. Vrai.n rivers Sunday evening: la$t. this one being heavi.er on the South FOrk: on the start but I!IWlWg: ilc:ross the ~ort.h canon and in a sho:rt time bath ri ve!:'iIJ were overflowing theiJ: banks, and for the t.hi.t'q tinte in five days swept: the bridges in the city limits out on the North Fork. The Llrct floOd took eve~~ bridqe on thaC stream wtthin fiv~ miles. Tbe county put men at work immediately const.ruct:i.n9 a temporary hl:'idqe across the North Fork down in the east end of Meadow Park in order to open up t~avel on the south St. Vrain. this was ready ~or travel in 24 houra-. In about. thirty minutes after this bridge wa.s finis~d along came the secOtui fToOd. and down streant went. the bridge also a foot bridge or so t~at had be~n hastily put in by some of ou~ c~tizens. This happe~ed Thursday afternOOn at 5 o'cloCk. '!'be county br1.dge forc:e ""ere again on th'l jOb early Frit1ay morning and at 2:30 had another passable temporary struct.ure ~plet~d and t.ra~el opened up thrQll.gh to Bstes Park via the south callan. Sunday evening about 5 o'cloek heavy cloud.. qat:het't!!d up the South Fork and 800n it was appl;lr~nt that a elolld burst. had taken place.ab?ut three miles up that.stream. A man who was ~aught in Lt sa1d ~~ came down as a curta1.n of water dropping f~om the heavens and four J.Qches of water fell just where he was in a$' lllol\.r1y mim~tes. This put the South stream higher than it had been durinq the first two flOOds. nQe fortunately no b~idges were car~ied out over it and not. much d.wnag-e done to the road.. The storm soon passed acrOSS to the llor:t.h c::an.on and !.hat stream 10ras fOr the third time in five days g1.ven ehe appearance ot the early Cherry creek flOOds in J}en~r. Tbis ca~ri_d down $tream about,half of the temporary ~ridqe alsO a foot. br1.clgt' that had been put 1.n the secOnd time& The county force soon .J:'epa;ired the ternpon.ry traffic bridge early Monday morning and travel CQmmenced again to and from AlIens and .Estes Pa.rk. I 'rhe Wo:re.t :Rain storm tha.t Has ever Been Known Since LYOns Has Been a Town---Water Two Feee Deep Fifty Feet Wide Rushes AcrOS3 !!aln Street I I Not onlY was th~ bridges washed away closing the road to tstes Park. but mile$ of read was torn OQt along the narrow canon, and tons and tons of boulders and neavy rock washed down from the mountain side oblit~ratin9 the road completely. No one can tell at this time when it will be pos- ible to get the ~orth canon in condition fo~ trav~l. The people livi~q on the low lands along the banks of the river were flooded out and many abandoned their homes and everything in the~ f~r higher ground and safety. Several of the ~tores on Main Street were flooded with y~ter and ~ud two to four inches deep. This water did not come from the ri~er but from the hill-sid~. lying north of town, from which a torrent of water flowed equal in vOl1JJlle to the North St. Vrain ordinarily. It was no uncommon thinq to see an automobile, bridge barf chicken house. and other small buildin~s going dOWh stream at a high rate of speed. A9ain Thursday afternoon heavy clouds qathered over the mountains, in the South and North Canons alike. and a heavy rain began to fall about ~:30. Exct~emen~ and anxiety deVeloped aa the stOrM increased anQ both rivers began to raise. ~he elimax came abou~ 6 o'clock when Miss Lois Hall gave the alarm OVer the phone that another and perhaps heJtvier flood than the o~e of the day before was coming down the North Fork. By t~is time word had been received th~t the South Fork was beyond tu bank.5 _nd that many bridges had gone Ott't up that canon. It "'as not lonq until the ~or'cl't river lias. about u high as the ~reeedin9 day, all the hOU5~S flooded ag4in in the lower part of town wit~ black, stinking. muddy water, and the inhabttants almost parallized with feAr. After a hard days work the cOUhty gang had j~st completed a ~emporary bridge across the North Fork so that the mail cars from Estes and ~llenspark cqminq dOWn the South Canon could Ct"O$8 'When a rush of 'lI~ter took it out cO"r.\plettHy. At 9 o'clock Thursday eveninq woed Was received ~hat many b:r~dges h<<4 been taken out of the Loveland aiq Th.ompson Canon.. Th~B cOBpletely cuts off E5tes Par~ fram egress. I I I . Just a~ we go to pres$ a mail ~ar reaches the North ror~ b~~dge. comLng down the so~th Fork from East&$ Park and t~~naferred the mail acrOS$ to Lyons via ~log J:oute~ This will certainly be qood ne~ to th~ Eastes P~rk peo- ptes who had the aa~ new$ that thoy Wer& completely marOOned f~om the out~r wor~d. The driver on the ~il car reports the r4ads ~d br~dqes ~n bad 5ha~ in some instances. but can be made fa1rly pa$sabl~ in a few days. Thus by the time the tempora~y bridge is conpleted admitting enterance to LYOhS, the only road ihto Estes Park the South St.. V~~in cllnt>n road ."ia J\l1enspatk"-will be open tor tl:'av<<l. This 1.$ als:o 900<1 n'!bWB for Lyons. The county forCeS salvaqed One of the railroad company's foot bridges th~t went down the !irst day and put it back in place in MeadOW par~, also put in a temporary vehicle bridge across the North stre~ in order that the settlers might qet into Lyon. from up that. canon. MayOr KIncaid and County Commissioner Har~y Miller inspected the North Fork road W~l3:ncad...y.. 'l'he county h.as bequn temporary ~epairs,to brid~e6 and hi9~~ay. later the state and Federal qovern~ ~eDt8 w1l1 reb~~ld th~ highway. I .. About 2 o'clOCk WeQnesday afternoon there appeared in the heavens a black, very heavy clOUd hanginq over the North St~ Vrain Canon ahd Steamboat ~101.1]ltaill northwest of o~:r city. A few Sharp flashes of lightening and rumblings of thunder ~nd a qradual rain sta~ted at 2:15, by 2:30 it wa$ apparent that ~re than art ordinary rain was upon us. From that time un~il 3:45 the ~~in in tQ~~ was very hea~y ~ith some hail. The first intimation of real danger was announced w~en ~rs. T. M. Freeman of Steamboat Villa phoned in a warning and aSking lQr help, about this time the two heavy state bridges and two or three foot bridges came floatinq down toward the town bridge, resemblinq a monster raft. It did not deter its down ecurse for a ~ent when it struck the town bridge, which went along and increased t~~ size of the drift. By this time the North side citizens awoke to the dPnqcr of thOSe in the lower part of town, and men and women, s~aked with the rain that W8S still pourinq down, th~onqed the hank of the river next to town. and gave all assistance pos$ible to the residents on this sjde of the river Who'6 ho~s we~e tilling with water and their stock and chickens floating away. But it was lropossible to give any a5nt3~afice to those aC~088 the rivar many of whose homes were in a roaring sea of water two and three feet deep. as all bridqes side of the stre~M soon came to their aS$istance and no lives wer~ lost. tlut ","nv t)<,r1J.', "'rif"~tnned... I - - - . ~