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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />present. The June 22, 1941 event, with a discharge of 10,500 cfs, was <br />the largest flow recorded at that gauge. Most reports attribute the <br />storr.1 to an extremely localized cloudburst, which occurred over the <br />South St. Vrain.143 The 1894 event, however, was severe both locally <br />and regionally. <br /> <br />The historic record may help to illustrate a difference which points to <br />greater inundation in 1894. Although copies of the local Lyons <br />newspapers have not survived, news stories from the neighboring <br />Boulder Daily Camera [1894 and 1941), Longmont Ledger (1894) and <br />Longmont Times-Call (1941) help illustrate the facts about the two <br />flood s. <br /> <br />Meadow Park, a picnic and recreation center in Lyons on North St. <br />Vrain Creek, was affected by both events. 144 The 1894 accounts <br />graphically describe the water as so swift that people had to be pulled <br />across the area with ropes. A horse team and wagon were washed <br />away.145 The 1941 accounts noted that movable objects such as picnic <br />tables floated away. 146 The 1894 stories reported that the entire <br />south part of Lyons was under water, and that twenty homes had been <br />washed away. 147 In 1941, although Keith Houx of Lyons was <br />tragically swept away to his dcath by the floodwaters as he attempted <br />to save his family, his Vias the only house destroyed.148 In addition, <br />the damage to roads, bridges and railroad tracks was cited to be more <br />extensive in 1894. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In addition to these pieces of information, a news article in 1941 stated <br />that L. T. Burgess. Chief Hydrographer from the State of Colorado's <br />Engineer's Office, calibrated the discharge for the Junc 22, 1941 flood <br />as 8,900 cfs. 150 However, the United States Geological Survey <br />Surface Water Supply Report stated the 10,500 cfs figure for the 1941 <br />flood as did the official biennial report of the State of Colorado <br />Engineer.151 <br /> <br />Although it is clear that both events were severe, the available data <br />may not be conclusive enough to suggest the 1941 flood as the most <br />extensive event. <br /> <br />Longmont <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Longmont is a unique example in boulder County because the entire <br />settlement of nearby Burlington is generally thought to have been <br />Moved because of a series of severe floods just south of the <br />present-day townsite of Longmont. 152 The town of Burlington was <br />located near the present-day intersection of Longmont's Main Street and <br />Colorado Highway 119, which is near the confluence of St. Vrain and <br />Lefthand Creeks. Settled in the late 1850's, it was visited by floods in <br />the 1860's and 1870's.153 The most notable floods were probably those <br />of 1864 and 1876. In fact, the 1876 flood reportedly inundated the area <br />for two days; 154 Although other factors were involved, such as <br />economic advantages, the severe flooding of the area may have helped <br />cause the abandonment of that site. Most of Burlington's citizens joined <br />the new settlers of the Chicago-Colorudo Colony ut the top of the hill <br />