<br />GA. .
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<br />I Colorado & The West
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<br />ROC_, 'vIounta,nNew~
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<br />'des 'via,:" .993
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<br />steve_~ampbell, State/Region Edlt~r_-=- 8~2~~~~~______ ---.~~--~~~
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<br />I Flood-hit counties seek disasterfunds
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<br />Garfield, Conejos ask
<br />state, 1..:.5. for help as
<br />streams subside but
<br />deluge threat remains
<br />
<br />By Joe Gamer
<br />
<br />/(,d\.\/m.mWl".\;'u_.'JuJilllnu'"
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<br />
<br />RIFU ~ Gartlt~ld and ConeJos
<br />c"untl~s 'J()ll~ht dIsaster aid :.lr)!J.
<br />da\ from weekend Dash Doods
<br />while edgy residents watched
<br />rivers recede, cleaned lip the
<br />mess and feared that the neXl
<br />f;ood wnuld be worse
<br />The western and southern Col-
<br />oradl) collntJeS soughl the stale
<br />andfedera:deslgnatlOnlOobtam
<br />loansandDlherhelpmrepaJr;ng
<br />flood damage
<br />"We've been hit hard, and J
<br />don't knuwwhat 10 do wah a flash
<br />rlrx>d. l'm a mechanlc,"saId Allen
<br />Ball. standmg In ooze m his yard.
<br />Along Park Avenlle. where Rifle
<br />Creek rampaged out of Its banks
<br />late Saturday after a cloudburst,
<br />:.londa)' was a day for recovery,
<br />but not necessanly relief. Clearing
<br />skIes 1'0111 end flash.flood watches
<br />from thunderstorms statewIde
<br />today, but more hlgh temperatures
<br />will fuel snowmelt mtl) already
<br />bnmmlngstreams
<br />Temperatures m western Col.
<br />oradoareexpectedlObemtheiOs
<br />and 80s toda;:atlower elevatIons,
<br />and m the 60s In the mountams.
<br />:>1eltmg w1l1 go on around the
<br />clock In the deep. hlgh.elevation
<br />snowfields
<br />"No more than 25<k of the
<br />snowpack IS gone:' said LarTY
<br />Tunnell. hydrologIst wIth the
<br />:\atlonal v..:eather Ser\"lCe m Den.
<br />"er. "Snowmelt may have slowed
<br />allttJe.blltthere';sllllaloloi
<br />llood season lOgo'
<br />ror the first time :.!onday, the
<br />rlsmg Colorado Hlver almost
<br />touched the botlOm ofa bridge on
<br />Interstate 70 a! Frulta. west of
<br />Grandjunctwn. Tllnnellsaid.
<br />"We're watchmg all the creeks
<br />Dccause we've got thiS combina-
<br />tIOn of cloudbursts and heavy
<br />spnJ1g runoff," said Dale Hancock,
<br />Garfield County operations dlrec.
<br />lOr. "We're trymg to gel the word
<br />out toget your sandbags ready."
<br />In RIlle, 10 homes and one
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<br />I INSIDE
<br />!. Romer angers R,~.e res'oen:sJ8.l
<br />
<br />'. Flooc forccaslerkeeps laDs on
<br />COrldlt,onS/SA
<br />:. RaglngwalersadCto I<al-a~ers
<br />cha;lenge/SA
<br />
<br />restaurant wercuamaged, and SIX
<br />jamille~are likdrlObc out oJ their
<br />homes for several y,eeh. Damage
<br />was estimated at a mmlmum of
<br />$100,000, although ~la\'Ol Dand
<br />Lmg said tht' IIgurecould be tWIce
<br />that amount bec<luse ofmudshdes
<br />OUlslde the CIty.
<br />"You're talking hea\>' eqUIp.
<br />mentwiixupmvyard,andldon't
<br />have that kind of money." Robert
<br />Basmger said, strugghng With the
<br /><I feet of sllllhat had been hiS yard
<br />and vegetable garden. "We also
<br />are talkIng about the fear that this
<br />will happen agam since it's hap.
<br />penedonce"
<br />UsuallvdoClleGovernmentand
<br />Rifle creeks converge on the
<br />north side of Rifle and meander to
<br />the Colorado River on the south.
<br />The homes damaged by the water
<br />all were In a llood plam. but few
<br />homeowners had flood Insurance.
<br />"] had a dike Instead of flood
<br />Insurance, but II came around the
<br />dIke," saldjanet Slncklan. whose
<br />log home was flooded by 3 feet of
<br />water. "I need 10 extend the dIke,
<br />but first I need to get the water
<br />and trash out of the house so we
<br />can Ilve here agam,"
<br />But some of her neighbors
<br />along Park Avenue saId flood
<br />Insurance was too costly and laced
<br />with exceptIOns and exemptlOns.
<br />They S<lld the city should have
<br />kept the creek free of debns,
<br />mcludmg several abandoned vehl-
<br />cles,thalcontnbutedtosending
<br />thecreekmlOafrenzy.
<br />"If there's a bnght SIde to thIS,
<br />lt was :>lother Nature's way of
<br />flushing out a lot of the debns.that
<br />had bUilt up so the channels
<br />should carry more water," Lmg
<br />said.
<br />Still mcredulous about the feroc-
<br />It)! and velocltv of the storm, JIm
<br />Stever called It'''a freak thing:'
<br />..It wasn't even raimng that
<br />hard, Then, I looked out the win-
<br />dow and the water was nght up to
<br />the back of the house,.' he saId.
<br />
<br />EI~JuIool.'flocI<yMounta,n~
<br />Harold Marrs uses a pump to remove water from around a house owned by hiS girlfriend. Janet
<br />Stncklan. The house, along Rifle Creek, was damaged heaVily by weekend f1oOdmg.
<br />
<br />2 rivers rise in southern Colorado
<br />
<br />Water leaves banks,
<br />then recedes; Conejos
<br />County braces for floods
<br />
<br />By Dick Foster
<br />R.rl;.M';'~,,,NtwSSo..tNrn-B,,unu --
<br />
<br />Two southern Colorado rivers
<br />swollen WIth runoff and rainfall
<br />lapped over their banks during the
<br />weekend, threatenmg an old
<br />bndge and one home, but by Mon.
<br />day evening the waters had sub-
<br />sided,county officials saId,
<br />"The water level has dropped
<br />drastically m the last few hours.
<br />It's cooler today and it hasn't
<br />ramed." Conejos County Emer-
<br />gency Operations Coordinator
<br />Rick Muntz said Monday.
<br />Heavy rams over the weekend,
<br />however, pushed nvers over their
<br />banks, flooding farmland and wip-
<br />ingout headgates that control fiow
<br />III the nvers, Monday afternoon,
<br />
<br />county officials declared It a local
<br />dIsaster.
<br />More thunderstorms could
<br />send water levels !lsmg again.
<br />and more storms were forecast,
<br />so public-safety officials are con-
<br />tinuing their vigil and have
<br />begun seeking disaster aid, even
<br />though no homes have been
<br />damaged.
<br />"They are a very poor county
<br />and know if floodmg occurs, they
<br />wouldn't be able to handle it WIth.
<br />out assIstance. So thIS IS simply a
<br />way of being prepared," said MIke
<br />Reddy, deputy dlrector of the state
<br />Office of Emergency Manage-
<br />ment.
<br />Los Pmos and San AntofllO
<br />rivers ran near bank-fuJl after Sun-
<br />day rains swelled the already-hIgh
<br />runoff in the channels, At some
<br />spots along their northeastern
<br />route from New Mexico 10 the
<br />Conejos River above Manassa.
<br />they spilled onto low-lying {arms
<br />
<br />and ranches.
<br />Many farmers and ranchers
<br />diverted lhe water to theIr fields
<br />Few homes or other structures
<br />he near the n..er, Muniz saId.
<br />"We had an older bndge on a
<br />countv rood south of AntonllO, and
<br />over the years the water has got-
<br />ten under it and there was some
<br />concernoverlt,"he said
<br />"We had one house at Los (er.
<br />ritos, east of \lanassa. that was
<br />enCIrcled by the water, and some
<br />people were pulling their livestock
<br />out of some fields, but now It'S
<br />gone down and we're lookmg pret.
<br />tv good."
<br />The San LUIS Valley's biggest
<br />over, the RIO Grande. was well
<br />wlthm ItS banks. Alamosa (ounty
<br />SheriffjamesDrurysaid.
<br />"It hasn't been a problem, and
<br />hopefully we'lI keep gettlllg
<br />somecoolnightsupmthemoun.
<br />tams so it won't be <I problem:'
<br />hesard.
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