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<br />1 <br /> <br />INTRODUCTI ON <br /> <br />On July 31, 1976, the Bi g Thompson Canyon was fi 11 ed with <br />touri sts. It was the Saturday of tile weekend comm'2morati ng Colorado I s <br />Centennial and the last holiday weekend before the start of school. <br />That night a flash flood ravaged the canyon, causing the worst disaster <br />in terms of the number of lives lost in Colorado state history. <br />This study analyzes behavior pattE!rnS during the Big Thompson <br />Canyon Flood in order to assist in the design of warning systems for <br />Front Range communities vulnerable to f'lash flooding. It is one of <br />the few efforts to determine with some precision the actions taken <br />during a flash flood, characteristics which may influence the choice <br />of those actions, and the relationship between particular actions and <br />survival. <br />The Big Thompson Canyon is one of the more scenic in the Rocky <br />Mountain region. U.S. Route 34 runs through the canyon, adjacent to <br />the river in many spots. It is the ma i 11 1 ink between the p" ains, near <br />Loveland, and Rocky Mountain National Park. Before the flood, the <br />full-time canyon population was 600 and the part-time residents numbered <br />approximately twice that. There were many tourists attracted by the <br />trout fishing, streamside motels and campgrounds. <br />There are three major communities in the 25-.mile canyon" West <br />from Loveland they are 1) Cedar Cove, just above the Narrows; 2) Drake, <br />the largest community, located at the confluence of the North Fork and <br />the Main Fork of the Big Thompson; and 3) Glen Comfort. One cOllll1unity on <br />the North Fork of the Big Thompson, Glen Haven, WelS also affected by the <br />flood. Figure 1 shows the relative locations of these communHies. <br />