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<br />12 rort Collins Coloradoan <br /> <br />August 1976 <br /> <br />Sherif{ continues to direct cleanup work <br /> <br />~. <br /> <br />The worst is over, when will it end? <br /> <br />ByGARY CILLEN <br />Of tlle Coloradoan <br /> <br />The strain of the lll.8t three weeks <br />is on his face. He has a tranqutllook <br />in his eyes and he's tired, but he's <br />far from beaten. <br />The \l,1)rst is over for Larimer <br />County Sheriff Robert C, Watson, <br />yet he asks: "When v.illltend'?" <br />Work continues In the Blg <br />TIlompson Canyon where on July 31 <br />betwPen 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. a <br />flash flood swept between rock walls <br />oostroylng all In Its path. Now the <br />work is cleanup and body recovery. <br />Two weeks ago it was saVing lives <br />and property. <br />Durtng the first week of the <br />disaster, Watson directed l'i!scue <br />operations from a command post in <br />Lo\'eland, but now he can do most of <br />his work from Fort Colllns. There is <br />stlllalottodo. <br />Patrolling the canyon, where the <br />dt>partment has three substations, Is <br />a main concern. Paying the bUls for <br />the rescue work in the past three <br />weeks is another concern. <br /> <br />Sheriff Watson is also looklng back <br />over three weekS and finding ways <br />to better prepare his department for <br />tutw'edlsa.sters. <br />One of the things Watson would <br />Ilke to do is Increase his reserve <br />manpower. During the first wpek of <br />the disaster there were over 250 <br />special deputies in the Big Thomp- <br />son Canyon, he noted. <br /> <br />The rescue effort was never short <br />of volunteers, the sheriff noted, but <br />there was no time to w~d through <br />them to find the most dependable. <br />That must be done before they are <br />needed. <br />Somt> program should be started <br />to organize rescue groups also, he <br />added. They must be ready to go on <br />short notice. <br /> <br />Watson had high praise for the <br />groups that did help \l,1th" the rescue <br />effort. The groups included the U.S. <br />Army, Rocky Mountain Rescue, the <br />Larimer County Search and Rescue, <br />Empire Search and Rescue and <br />JetfersoJl County Search and Rescue <br />and many otht>rs. <br /> <br />"'Illt>.8e kids did a really good job <br />and had little thought for their own <br />property that was used," he said. <br /> <br />DURING 'IHE flrs~ {\\.'O days after <br />the flood, about 1,000 peraons were <br />evacuated from the canyon, Watson <br />said. <br /> <br />The sheriff also would like to have <br />better commw1lcaUons available for <br />future dlsa.sters of this size. He <br />hopes to get some federal funding <br />for additional radio equipment. <br /> <br />The steep rock wa.Jls o. the canyon <br />made commwllcation in and out of <br />the disaster area very dltflcult. A <br />relay station had to be set up on a <br />mountain top to retransmit <br />messages out of the canyon. <br />Early in the disaster, ham .radlo <br />operators assisted the sheriff in <br />sending messages to Denver and <br />other areas. <br /> <br />Citizen band radios were more of a <br />problem than a help in the disaster <br />recovery effort, Watson said. The <br />operators were not organized. <br />In the future, the sheriff would like <br />to organlu a smaU group to be <br />responsible for coordinating citizen <br />band communications. <br />"We nl;'t'd a nucleus of responsible <br />CB operators with the rest on <br />standby. Without coordination, CBs <br />are a plague In this situation," he <br />added. <br />'IHE DEPARTMENT also needs <br />to build a more deffnlte chain of <br />Command and establish a better <br />system for passes, Watson sald. <br />Experience has shown the sheriff <br />command officers can be used <br />better in the fleid than on road <br />blocks. <br />Also during last week, Sheriff <br />Watson has had time to respond to a <br />few critical questlorul regarding the <br />department's actions before and <br />attertheflood. <br />Some canyon residents felt the <br />department shoUld have done more <br />to warn resIdents of the coming <br />fl~~ unpredictable movements of <br />the storm that caused the flood is the <br />main reason the sheriff gives for the <br />short warnlng. Also, many residents <br />retu.~d to move even after being <br />told of the coming waters. <br />\ <br />"Il's useless to blame the weather <br />service Of' anyone t'ise tor f1tJt <br />predicting where the storm would <br />drop rain. It's like having a tornado <br />in the area and not knowing where It <br />wUl touchdown," ht>sald. <br />I <br />Some deputies went through <br />campgrounds warning persons up to <br />three times. They refused to believe <br />such a serious flood could happen. <br />others walted too long to evacuate. <br />Watson told of a man who waited <br />unW the water reached the top of his <br />clothesline before leaving home. He <br />survived, but was lucky, the sheriff <br />remarked. <br /> <br />The strain is on his face, <br />but Watson's far from beaten <br /> <br />'IHE SPEED of body recovery Is <br />another point where the department <br />ls belng criticized. Some say a <br />higher priority should be given to <br />finding persons sUII m1sslng. <br />Watson responds to this by saying <br />that the sca.Je of devastation Is so <br />great, that so much debris has been <br />plJed up that It will take time to sltt <br />through It. <br /> <br />He told of a part of the river that <br />appeare:l to be washed out to the <br />base. But, after dlgglng a rew teet, <br />rescuers fOWld an enUre automoblle <br />buried undt>rneath. <br />Bodles couJd be in many pieces, or <br />they could be caught in very small <br />places. It is doubtful that all the <br />casualUes wUl ever be found, said <br />theshertff. <br /> <br />To get an Idea of the problem. one <br />must see the disaster area, Watson <br />said. Boulders several Urnes tht> size <br />of an automobile were moved by the <br />flood. <br />Watson said road blocks wID be <br />maintained at canyon entrances <br />until a good road can bebu1lt. The <br />present road Is passable only by <br />four-wheel-drive vehicle. <br /> <br /> <br />~ ~ <br />'~ <br /> <br />r--._ <br /> <br />''4.................... <br />". .' .cr.. .. ':' <br /> <br /> <br />. '\ <br /> <br />1"\ <br /> <br /> <br />~ <br />r" <br /> <br />The strain of the rescue operotion shows on face of Sherjff Robert Watson <br /> <br /> <br />... <br /> <br />Watson directs news briefing <br /> <br />Many area policemen <br />volunteered time <br /> <br />During the recent flood in the Big <br />Thompson River Canyon, respon- <br />sible volunteers were always in <br />demand. Many of them came from <br />law enforcement agencies like the <br />Colorado State Patrol, CSU police <br />and Fort CoJJlns pollee. <br />Lt. Marvin E. Schlageter of the <br />Colorado State Patrol headquarters <br />here estimates that about 40 <br />patrolmen were used during the <br />disaster. <br />TheIr duties included traffic <br />control. towing vehicles and road <br />blocks. The patrol w1lI continue to <br />Identify vehicles found In the canyon <br />for weeks to come, Schlageter said. <br />The patrol also provided \1tal <br />communications equipment for use <br />during the disaster recovery effort. <br />Schlageter also established a road <br />block at Poodre Canyon on July 31. <br /> <br />Fort Collins pollee sent nine men <br />to the disaster site to help the <br />recovery effort, noted Chief Ralph <br />M. Smith. Other polJcemen volun- <br />teered many hours of their time. <br />According to pollee estimates, a <br />total of 168 hours were spent by Fort <br />CbI1ins officers in the canyon. <br />City pollee also helped the <br />sheriff's department cover the rest <br />of the county by answering calls <br />neartheclty. <br />CSU pollee contributed about 10 <br />persons to the disaster operation and <br />spent some 136 hours, according to <br />estimates by ChJer M. Wayne <br />Teegarden. <br />The oftlcers helped with road <br />blocks, security and conunand post <br />operation. <br /> <br />Deputies remember feeling helpless <br /> <br /> <br />The father went bock; <br />he never returned <br /> <br />What they remember most about <br />that ink-black night In the Big <br />Thompson River Canyon on July '31 <br />Is a feellngof helplessness. <br /> <br />As they stood on the edge of the <br />flooding rtver that night, deputies <br />from the LarImer County Sheriffs <br />Department could see people, both <br />aUve and dead, being swept away. <br />The swift current and fast.moving <br />debris made rescue Impossible. <br /> <br />Capt. Terry Urlsta lives near the <br />canyon mouth and was among the <br />first to give warning of the comlng <br />flood. Later Urista and Deputy <br />James J. Garcia would be trapped <br />by the rising water. <br /> <br />It wasn't even rainlng at the <br />Urista home when the call came at <br />about 9 p.m. He told his wife he <br />expected to be back home in about <br />half an hour. <br /> <br />The captain. who had been with <br />the department six of his 28 years, <br />started up the canyon warnIng all he <br />saw to evacuate. Watching the <br />river, Urtsta recalls it was high but <br />didn't look dangerous. But, when he <br />rounded a bend near the narrows, <br />Ur!sta saw something shockin,ll:. <br />U.S. 34 had been destroyed by the <br />rtver. The water was getting high <br />and more violent by the second. <br />"I usually don't get excited over <br />anythIng, but when I saw that high- <br />way oot I yelled a message over the <br />radio to get everyone out of the <br />canyon fast," Urista rembers. <br /> <br />By this Ume the rain was falling 80 <br />hard that driving was almost im- <br />possible. Urista started back down. <br />Garcia was on regular patrol the <br />night of the flood. He began warning <br />people shortly after 9 p.m., and <br />pulled a woman from the muddy <br />water, <br /> <br />The two men met at Cedar Cove <br />during the height of the flood. Garcia <br />went back Into the water after <br />hearing of a child trapped in a <br />stranded auto, but after inchIng <br />along a lifeline for yards he found <br />the car empty. Urista would not let <br />him go back into the water any more <br />that night. <br />'The deputies saw people trapped <br />in the middle of the rI~r as they <br />were driving down the canyon <br />,sounding the warning. Monday <br />mornIng most of them were gone. <br />Uristarecalls. <br /> <br />All that night Urlsta and Garcia <br />watched the river with. their car <br />lights. 'The hours seemed to run <br />together as reports came over their <br />radio and bodies floated down river. <br /> <br />Propane tanks from houses and <br />trailers whistled and gurgled as they <br />went by; trees cracked like rttle <br />shots all through the night. <br /> <br />CAPT. JOHN-Englebert spent that <br />night in the canyon too. He and <br />Sheriff Robert Watson had set up a <br />command post at the Merry Ax. <br /> <br />It was total chaos that night, the <br />captain said. The radio channels <br />wert'! jammed, the ram was pouring <br />down in sheets, the river was over <br />the highway and people were <br />trapped . <br /> <br />Englebert got on his radio and <br />ordered U.S. 34 blocked at both ends <br />of the canyon, he ordered a <br />helicopter and shouted other orders <br />ashe stood in the downpour. <br /> <br />A report came over the air that a <br />car was floating down the Mver <br />toward the command post. <br /> <br />"It had its l1ghtson and I could see <br />people inside; it zoomed by us and <br />was never heard from again; there <br />~~~ we could d,o," Englebert <br /> <br /> <br />Deputy Morgan Porler recalls an <br />incident that occurred near the <br />F1resJde Motel where a famIly of <br />five was living, <br />The tamlly left Its home when <br />the waters were threatening; but the <br />father went back to release some <br />pigs in a shed. He never returned. <br />Porter said he had to restrain the <br />mother who appeared to be trying to <br />enter the water to get her husband. <br />Porter and about 20 other persons <br />spent the night by the river. <br />Deputy Byron Wicks is credited <br />with rescuing an elderly couple and <br />a young boy In Poudre Canyon <br />durtngthe flooding thereon JulySl. <br />He used his mountain climbing <br />training to rig a line across the rtver <br />and carry out a retired couple and a <br />12-year-oldboy. <br />"The quality and dedication of our <br />people and thetr ability to continue <br />functioning Is remarkable. Nobody <br />complained and everyone pulled <br />together," Urista commented. <br />"There's a lot of esprit de corps 10 <br />the department these days." <br />