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<br />previous changes at least since the area was settled. Undoubtedly, the <br /> <br />chance of recurrence of such extreme floods is very small, but there is no <br /> <br />assurance that they will not occur again next year, or even within a few <br /> <br />months. For example, the flood of July 24, only 5 weeks after the June 16 <br /> <br />flood, on Plum Creek near Louviers, Colo. was an outstanding event in <br /> <br />itself. Then there is the small, but still possible, chance that one of those <br /> <br />very rare floods, one that would dwarf the floods of 1965, will occur soon. <br /> <br />The 1965 floods on the Bijou Creek and its tributaries were comparable to <br /> <br />the 1935 floods, which elicited the following comment from the Colorado <br /> <br />State Engineer (28th Bien. Rept., p.43, 1939). <br /> <br />"While some of the results, particularly those of the Bijou <br /> <br />Creek discharges appear to be incredible and entirely be- <br /> <br />yond anything which has ever occurred in Colorado or adja- <br /> <br />cent areas, they are submitted for whatever value they may <br /> <br />have." <br /> <br />Antecedent moisture conditions have a minor effect on extremely out- <br /> <br />standing floods, but rains had been fairly general and frequent since May 23. <br /> <br />According to the Weather Bureau, meteorological conditions were parti- <br /> <br />cularly conducive to production of the series of torrential thunderstorms <br /> <br />that caused the floods. Near Larkspur, Colo., 14 inches of rain fell on <br /> <br />June 16 and 10 to 12 inches were reported at several other locations. Ser- <br /> <br />ious flooding on the South Platte River upstream from Denver began on the <br /> <br />afternoon of June 16, when Plum Creek washed out Interstate 25 roadway <br />