FLOOD03976

• County: Weld
• Community: Milliken
• Stream Name: Little Thompson River
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: The Milliken Flood of June 3, 1981
• Date: 7/1/1981
• Prepared For: State of Colorado
• Prepared By: D. Randolph Seaholm
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to document the flooding
that occurred at Milliken, Colorado on June 3, 1981. It is hoped
that this documentation will aid in the understanding of the
drainage problems presently existing at Milliken and help develop
viable solutions to the problems.

This report focuses on three small drainages and the
related sediment and erosion problems associated with flooding on
each. The drainage problems identified in figures 3, 4, and 5
were either field identifiable approximately 3 weeks after the
flooding or were as reported to us by several individuals. This
report does not attempt to identify all the related minor
drainage problems.

please keep in mind that we are discussing shallow
flooding (generally less than 3 feet in depth) in this report.
Generally speaking shallow flooding is not associated with loss
of life or severe property damage, however, a small potential for
such does exist.

Storm Conditions

On June 3, 1981 at approximately 3:30 p.m. a severe
thunderstorm system produced as much as 3.5 inches of rain on an
approximately seven square mile drainage southwest of Milliken,
Colorado in little more than one hours time. This intense rain
seemingly averaged between 2 and 2.5 inches over the entire basin
in that hours time and caused considerable flooding in the town
of Milliken and on adjacent farm lands as described later in this
report.

In addition to these heavy rains the storm system produced
tornadoes and heavy hail in other areas. Considerable tornado
damage was reported in Denver, Northglenn, Thorton, and Fort
Lupton. Hail damage was reported along a line from Northglenn to
Greeley and well on to the northeast at many scattered locations.

A 3.5 inch rainfall was reported on the Ehrlich land along
Weld County Road 44 between Weld County Roads 21 and 23. A 2.5
inch rainfall was reported at the Ehrlich Farm House, Weld County
Road 46 and the Union Pacific Railroad. Several residents in
Milliken reported around 2.0 inches including Gordon Cook, the
postmaster, and Guy Orazeman, the police chief, in about the same
hours time. Leroy Martinez had almost 2.5 inches in his rain
gage before hail broke it.

Based on these scattered reports it appears that the
heaviest rainfall (3.5 inches) could have been nearly centered in
the basin. The storm tracked from the southwest to the northeast

186
drsjfl

-2-