FLOOD06036

• County: Larimer
• Community: Big Thompson Canyon
• Stream Name: Big Thompson
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Newspaper - Ft. Collins Coloradoan: The Big Thompson, A Special Report
• Date: 8/1/1976
• Prepared For: Fort Collins Coloradoan
• Prepared By: Various Writers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

':-

Inside
this
edition:

-State agencies moved
quickly. Page 2.
~A night of tragedy. Page
3.
-The weather was right
for 0 flood. Page 4.
-History of Big Thompson
Canyon. Page 6.
-The Big Thompson Pro-
ject. Page 7.
-floodplain studies. Page
8. ,.

-Th. legions of vol un-
teers. Page 9.
.LA couple returns to the
canyon. Page 11.
-When will it end? Page
12.
-Th. "ot'~.r" canyons-
Poudre anei'Rls', Page 16.

"''1~

The Big
Thompson:

A special
report

Saturday, July 31, 1978, the eve ot
the one.hundredth birthday of the
state of Colorado.
The weekend had begun in typical
fashion - \l.1th the mountain areas
fUled 'with tourists and area
residents, taking some time off for
t1shing, camping aJ'ld just "looking
at the scenery."
In the Big Thompson Canyon
be~'ee"'n Ulveland and Estes Park,
however, the visitors and permanent
re~idenls . as many as 4,lXKI persons
In all'. were settling in for what
looked like a long, gloomy night. An
ominous mountain of clouds broiled
over the canyon and the tern.
perature had cooled considerably. It
was not to be the usual late.day
summer shower, but a deluge - an
l1-lnch rain (almost a normal year's
rainlalllin barely 6 hours.
A wall of water roared down the
canyon, carrying with It everything
in Its widening path - trees, houses,
automobiles and camper vehicles,
boulders as big as cars. And people.
'There had been some warning of
the danger of flash flooding, but
many had not heard It Others
Ignored the warning until It was too
late.
'The force and the speed 01 the
rampaging river lel1 many with no
way 01 escape. Some were trapped
In thelr cars, others simply were
swept from the banks, to drown, or
to die aga1nst the rocks. Some who
tr:Ied to escape up the walls of the

canyon found them 100 steep and too
slippery. The climb Wll!l too slow,
and the river was upon them.
It was a night of terror, pJtch !)Jack
except when llghtning provided brief
flashes of the gro....ing destruction of
the canyon.
By Sunday mOming, Aug. 1 .
Colorado Day . the extent of the
disaster slowly came to be realized.
As Gov. Richard Lamm was to say,
"The river has reclaimed the
canyon from all Its intruders."
Two weeks later, the death toll had
~100, andthe~ew~
estimated at some $28 mllllon.
It was the worst disaster e\'er to
strike the state, and it affected,
either dlreclly or Indirectly,
thousands of people across the
nation.
In this special edition, the
Coloradoan tells, in words and
pictures. of the Big Thompson flood,
while recognizing that the full story
can never be told. Eyewltnt'l8Sefl
have given counUess reports of the
terror and tragedy and herolsm of
that night In the canyon, but can
they fully convey what it was really
like? On.lythey can know that.
Ttrls edition \.!I dedicated to ~
thousands of pef'50n5 who volun.
teered their time, effoM and, In
many cases, their own money to aid
the victims of the flood. and to those
members of the various agencies
whose efforts went aoo\'e and
beyond the call of duly.

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