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Backqround Information for Colorado Flood Awareness D~y, Jill y 31, 19A1 "--:.,. - .~' . . .'.'. Prep~red by the Color~do WdLer Conserv~tlon Boar~ July 23, 1981 ~. - , .. On July 31, 1976 heclvy raIns fell in the Biq Thompson Canyon '<" between Loveland and Estes Park. Precipitation totals were as much as 12 inches In 5 hours. The result was a flood which caused 139 deaths, 5 person mlsslnq, clnd 556.1 million In recov- ery costs. Un~ware of the heavy rain clnd potenti~l danger, some people faIled to heed warnings as the storm developed upstream from them. It should be noted that qreater precipitation amounts occurred In 1921 at Pueblo, Colorado, In 1935 at Elbert, Colorado, and in 1965 at Palmer Lake, Colorado. . Since the 1976 flood, much has been done In the Big Thompson Canyon. Damaged structures and other debrIs were cleaned up; the highway was rebuilt; some affected properties were purchased and turned over to public ownership; and some structures were repaired or replaced. The cost to the Federal Government was $52.7 mIllion; the cost to the state was $1.5 million, and the cost to Larimer County was $1.5 millIon. The Big Thompson Flood of 1976 was the most recent major flood disaster to affect Colorado and perhaps the most highly publiclz~d. It was not, however, a unique event. In the past 10 yea~s alone, the followIng major floods have occurred: 1973 - South Platte River (Denver to state line) 1976 Big Thompson Canyon 1977 - Eaton, Ault, Pierce and Nunn In Weld County 1980 - Larimer County flooding--Cache la Poudre River and Big Thompson River 1981 - ,Miliiken, SterlIng, Trinidad area Severe flooding occurs regularly in various parts of Colorado, lives are lost In that flooding, and extensive damage to private .' and public property results from that floodinp. . In June 1921, flooding along the Arkansas River in Pueblo '. cost 78 lives and $19 mllllon In damaqe. In May 1935 flOOding on Monument Creek In Colorado Sprinqs cost 18 lives dnd $1.76 mil- lion ~n damage. Between 1896, and 1946 45 persons were kliled on Bear Creek and Hount Vernon Creek in the Morrison-Kittredge-Ever- green area. Further severe floods have occurred since 1946 In .the same ared. Hc~vy floodinq took plclce dlonq Boulder C~cek In Boulder In 1894, 1914, 1921, clnd 1938. In June 1965, many areas in Colorado experienced hcavy flOOding. The most severe floodlnq was alonq the Arkansas RIver clnd lts tributaries (16 deaths in Colorcldo, New MexIco, clnd Kansas) and alonq the South Platte River and its tributaries (8 deaths clnd $SOO mi II lUll ill IldllldHe--$3ll0 lIIi Illon ill I)ellver <. . -- alone). In May 1973, heavy floodInq took place along the South. Platte> <Jg<Jin (10 de;lths and $17.1.5 million In d.,m"I)Cs). In the 1921 floodlng in Pueblo, there were levees on t~e Arkansas RIver. OtherwIse there WclS little floodplain management to prevent extensIve damage. By the time of the 1965 flooding In the South Platte and the Arkansas ~Iver Basins, however, the sItuation was different. Structural elements of a floodplain management proqram (John Martln Rcservolr on the Arkansas River and Cherry Creek Reservoir on Cherry Crcek) slqnlrlc~ntly reduced potentlcll flood flows <Jnd the losse5 that would resulL rrom them. Damages incurred In recent floods re-emphaslze that much remains to be done In terms of both structural and non-structural ~ leme~ts, ofJ'.!-oodpla In management. '," . . -' ~. I i l