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<br />June 1864 and May 1876 were severe and much valley farmland was <br />flooded. The flood of May 3l, l894, inundated the entire lower <br />part of town. Although 20 homes at Lyons were washed away, no <br />lives were lost. This flood had an estimated peak discharge of <br />9,800 cfs at Lyons, with most of the flow coming from South <br />St. Vrain Creek. <br /> <br />In late July 1919, a series of severe thunderstorms caused flash <br />flooding along St. Vrain Creek. The following is from the Lvons <br />Recorder, dated August 2, 19l9: <br /> <br />"The heaviest and most destructive cloudburst...in the <br />memory of the oldest inhabitant visited Lyons on <br />Wednesday, July 30, between 2:30 and 3:45 P.M. It took <br />out all the bridges on the North St. Vrain for about 5 <br />miles up and 5 miles downstream. The Longmont and Lyons <br />water mains up the canyon were torn out in many <br />places...miles of road were torn out along the narrow <br />canyon." <br /> <br />"The people <br />flooded out, <br />ground and <br />town).. .were <br /> <br />living.. .along the banks of the river were <br /> <br />and many aba.ndoned their <br />safety...homes (in the <br />in a roaring Sea of water 2 <br /> <br />homes for higher <br />lower part of <br />and 3 feet deep." <br /> <br />Another crest on the following day flooded houses again in the <br />lower areas of town and washed out 300 yards of railroad track east <br />of Lyons. The peak discharge on July 30 was later computed to be <br />9,400 cfs. The right bank of North St. Vrain Creek was flooded to <br />a width of 300 feet (Reference 20). <br /> <br />The largest peak discharge of record, on St. Vrain Creek at Lyons <br />was lO,500 cfs on June 22, 1941. This flood originated mostly on <br />South St. Vrain Creek, and the creek peaked very rapidly with <br />floodwaters receding quickly. It is assumed that an extremely <br />localized cloudburst occurred over South St. Vrain Creek a short <br />distance upstream from Lyons. <br /> <br />The effects of the June 4, 1949, flood were felt largely downstream <br />of Lyons. Prolonged rainfall 'and heavy snowmelt kept St. Vrain <br />Creek out of its banks in rural areas during most of the month of <br />June. Bridges, roads, and irrigation headworks were damaged. <br /> <br />Lyons received 6.3 inches of rain from a cloudburst-type storm that <br />began about 6 p.m. on August 3, 1951. This combined with generally <br />heavy rains over the basin to' cause flooding from Lyons to the <br />mouth of St. Vrain Creek. The flood lasted for less than 12 hours. <br />Severe damage resulted to Colorado Highway 7 along South St. Vrain <br />Creek. In the rural areas downstream from Lyons, many grain shocks <br />were washed from the fields. <br /> <br />26 <br />