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<br />GA. . <br /> <br />I Colorado & The West <br /> <br />ROC_, 'vIounta,nNew~ <br /> <br />'des 'via,:" .993 <br /> <br />-------- --- <br />steve_~ampbell, State/Region Edlt~r_-=- 8~2~~~~~______ ---.~~--~~~ <br /> <br />I Flood-hit counties seek disasterfunds <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <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'" <br /> <br />I <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 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />J <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br /> <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. <br />