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<br />higher than it ~as the day before, the cutrent covered the D~RC Rail-
<br />road yard with several feet and filled the lo~er part of the station...
<br />The river flowed through and across the fish pond and s~imrning pool fill-
<br />ing them"ith silt and sand".
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<br />rocky silt, caused it to rise ",ithout jllmping the banks for a ti:ne."
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<br />On July 2, 1973, the Ouray Counry Plaindealer reported the most recent
<br />serious flooding. "It came in like sangbusters at <<:30 p.~. Sunday, a
<br />ripping, roaring, frightening cloudburst accompanied by lightning,
<br />thunder, "ind and heavy hail. After less than a h.,lf hour of hellralsing,
<br />the storm swept out again, having deposited 0.<<4 inches of prccipitation
<br />..hich sent Cascade Flurne into flooding chaos..... TheheavyrLlnofffrom
<br />Cascade Creek thundered cleanly down the flume across town until the de-
<br />scent leveled off near the Uncompahgre River. There it clogged quickly,
<br />and debris backed up about 300 feet to the Main Street underpass. V~cant
<br />lots received the..orst of it, and "'ere flooded all the way to the r ivcr."
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<br />ThnAugust2,l9290urayHeraldaddedthefollO',Jingdetails, "twooft he
<br />most terrific storms ever "itnessed in the history of Ouray, co~ing less
<br />than t..o days apart, caused damage to property and roads estimated to be
<br />near $150,000, and Ouray today is digging out of piles of debris consist-
<br />ing of rocks, trees, lumber, bridges, logs and mud. A third storm On the
<br />third day ..as mild, but added to the damage done by the cloudbursts of the
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<br />Minor cloudburst and heavy rains continued to occur ..ithin the study area
<br />",atershedbutnolllajor flooding "as experienced until 1951. On August 4th
<br />of that year the Montrose Daily "!'ress reported "The Cern City of the Rockies
<br />was clearing away thi! debris of its worst flood in 22 years Friday and its
<br />residents were some"hat apprehensive of a repeat performance of the "ater
<br />spout that $truck late Thursday afternoon to send torrents of water, mud,
<br />rocks and logs rolling down normal dry washes and city thoroughfares."
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<br />The observations of Mr. 'Gallaghcr ..ere substant1ated during this storm with
<br />theP1aindealcrgivingthisaccount. "The flurne blockage created a phenom-
<br />enon not often seen. For some time after the flume became plugged all the
<br />way from the river to Main Street Bridge, water "aa running about two feet
<br />abovegroundlevelinaneatpathasifbetweaninvisible..alls,fort..enty
<br />feet before it spread out ..here land leveled off. This apparently occurs
<br />because as the flumn is filled..ithsilt, gravel and other finedebr1$,
<br />the ~ater is coming down with such force that it squeezed up through the
<br />gunk but its momentum keeps it running On cOurse for a time, within ""lIs
<br />that aren't there."
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<br />It was then another 14 years until Ouray was OnCa again struck by heavy
<br />flooding. The July 7,1965 Ouray County Herald reported "A dO<ldburst high
<br />up Portland and Cascade Creeks Sunday night washed down tons of rock~, trees
<br />and mud from the mountain aides east of to""-. Both creeks run through town
<br />in cement flumes. These soon became plugged ..ith debris and thn water flow-
<br />ed ScrOsS parts of towo, through a number of hones. Ouray began cleaning
<br />up its mess late Sunday evening, "ork continued ..ithout interruption through
<br />the night and all day Monday. (Then on Tuesday), a heavy rain started fall-
<br />ing at 9 o'clock and hy 11 Portland Cr",,-k wa~ again floorlinr,. It burst out
<br />of its lIell cha"nel and cut acruss town in seoHsI pl"ccs, floodingrr.any
<br />homesthathadpreviou$lyescaped." Damag"sfromfhesestor,oswasconaider-
<br />able and relief funds amounting to $20,292 for rcpair of the flumes and
<br />restorllUooofthesffectedareaawerereceivedfromtheFederalOHiceof
<br />Emnrgcncy Preparedness.
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<br />Dcspite the frcqu"ncy and ferocity of thn fl.~sh floods throughout the study
<br />area,lossofhuInSnlltehssbeensurprisinglyrare. Only four incidents
<br />were uncovered, three in 1906 and one in 1927. The June 1, 1906 Ouray
<br />Hcrald rccordod "A dOLld is believed to have burst nnd swelled Fors",sn
<br />Crcck into a raging flood that borc down logs, trees, and earth and tore
<br />out the fraU bridge st"'cture leavIng the track ,"uspended On ties twenty
<br />feet above." Train engineer James O'~eil deed when his engine plunged in-
<br />to the chasm before he could bring H to a stop. Lat..rthats"mcycar, t",o
<br />rainerswerefound dead in a a,nalladit. The August 3, 1906 Ouray Herald
<br />gavnthefollo..lngaccount' "Evldently they had taken refuge. from the rllin
<br />in this tunnel and 11 cloudbutst on the mountain above had caused a torrnnt
<br />of water to come down che little gulch beside ..hich the tunnel is located,
<br />carrying debris ..hich filled the little tunnel almost to thn breast.....
<br />The men could not possibly havc lived but 11 fnw moments after the torrent
<br />washed in tha debris, as the space remaining w.~s quite small and ..as in all
<br />pr<>bllbilityalmostorcompletelyfilled..ith"ater."
<br />The 1927 casualty wllS reported in the August 5th Montrose Enterprise as
<br />f<>ll""g. "B..lieved to be a victim of the recent high waters, the b"dy of
<br />Henry Cuddigan, 50, a rancher, was fouod in a field near his cabin. The
<br />field has been flooded by the creek (Uncompahgre), which had overflowed its
<br />banka Wednesday night."
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<br />Although repairs ..cre made they did not atem the tide of future floods as
<br />the area..as hit hard in H71 and asain in H73. The Ouray County Flain-
<br />delller'sSeptcmbcr2,197ieditiondescribedthefollowingflood. "Hcavy
<br />doudhursts Friday aft..rnoon c"us..d most d ,,1litehouse}lountain's east drain-
<br />age to cut loose in a flooding rampage, do..n on Ouray and the arell north of
<br />to""-. Considerable damnge was done by Oak Creek, Corbett Creek, Coal Creek
<br />and Forsman Creek, to roads, water and se",er linns, though yards, patiOS,
<br />baSnments and hayflelds got their sharo of flooding from varlous sOurces....
<br />According to the oldtimcrs in Ouray, Oak Creek has kept its tnmper since
<br />1<<29 but it did a ,ood dcal of d,,",aae Friday. At one time, it plugged the
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<br />Uncompahgre with large boulders and debris, and made a temporary a e.
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<br />Dur:lngthIsstormaninterestingphC<1omenon..asrcportedbya1oca1 resident,
<br />Tom Galbgher, "hen he obs<"vf'd the ,,'aters of Oak Cr....k runningahov., its
<br />banks. His inte"prt>t.~ti<)n was that "the heaviness of the runoff of mucky,
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