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<br />THE ESTES PARK FLOOD
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<br />flood damage $5Qmilli'on:''"
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<br />. :~e~]~r~~I~;'~'io~~ned by the U.S.
<br />The dam beld,
<br />But deputies closed U.s. 34 between
<br />Loveland and Estes Park and went door-
<br />lo-door iq the narrow C3nyon, warning res.
<br />idents of the flood.
<br />In Este!l Park, the water began to re-
<br />cede by mid-mornillgand lhe cleanup ot
<br />hundreds oJ tons of mud alld debris began.
<br />", At noon, a foot-deep river still ran down
<br />Elkhorn Avenue. .
<br />Electric service was quickly restored to
<br />most of lhe community.
<br />Public Service Co. cut off gas supplies to
<br />downtown Ilnd the western edge of the
<br />city. PSC northern dIvision operations
<br />manager Jack Fowler said it would be two
<br />pr three days before service is lully re-
<br />litored.
<br />Telephone lines were swept away by the
<br />flood waters. Cables Ul1.dernealh li:lkhorn
<br />Aveoue were soaked, but a Mountain Bell
<br />~poke.swoman !/did damage would be re-
<br />paired quickly. By nighUalJ, service had
<br />been restorL>d to most areas of the city.
<br />MAYOR nARRY B. Tregent looked out
<br />hisolticewindow, tears in his eyes.
<br />"I am pretty shook up," he said. "1
<br />thouglotafter two of thcse things you were
<br />supposed to get used to it."
<br />Three hours later, he was more eheer-
<br />ful.
<br />"You walch. We will be back. And we
<br />wiUbebackstrongerthanever,"hesaid.
<br />Officials said the damage could have
<br />been mucb worse.
<br />The waler dropped about 3,000 feet
<br />from Lawn Lake, efevation 10.500 feet. to
<br />Lake Estes, which Is 7,SOO feet above sea
<br />level. .
<br />But Horseshoe Park, a broad meadow
<br />about seven miles up5tream from Estes
<br />. Park. acted like "a giant sponge. And that
<br />is what saved F..stes Park from destruc.
<br />tion," a Fotellt Service spokesman Silld.
<br />SIIERIFF BLACK SAI[) most of Rocky
<br />Mount.ain National Pilrk Is open, including
<br />Trail Ridge Road.
<br />. Many store owners said they had no
<br />flood Insurance. Tregent .sald authorities
<br />would meet In the next few days to decide
<br />if President .Reagan should be,asked to
<br />'designate ~te:l Park as a di:/.aster area,
<br />: clearing the way for low-Interest loans to
<br />: home and husiness owner5.' '
<br />: A Chamber or Commerce spokeswoman
<br />; predicted the 1l00d would cause only a
<br />'.momentary setba.ck to the city's huge
<br />summer tourist trall/c.- .
<br />But main.street buslnellS owners wen!.
<br />1~'T~~~~~t~. aho~td~~'; for this year,"
<br />SOlid Olson, surveying Ihe wreckage of hill
<br />motel. "When people hear about tbls. they
<br />won't come, And it was the start of a gqod
<br />season."
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<br />"
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<br />IIrW!rMOTO'TJOSl. Lorn:
<br />Two people sit atop cobin west of Estes Park's business di~trict with flood debris aroun~ them.
<br />
<br />Victims cope' with flood
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<br />By MARTV MF;ITUS
<br />Ne...St.oIf
<br />
<br />.
<br />In
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<br />humorous style
<br />
<br />I::stes Park Thursday. Both rellkted the helplessness of
<br />thellituation. .
<br />Even Thursday afternoon. bours aller the flood first
<br />ripped through Estes Park's main commercial area., a.s
<br />much as three feet of dirty water_stili cascaded past
<br />downtown candy stores. restaurants, curio shops andoth-
<br />er tourilit lures. . .
<br />Merchantsstartedsweepingthemudlromtheirstores. .
<br />f.'or many,lI was p.alnful.
<br />Virg Canada watched the water streaming out from
<br />underneath the door of his store, AjaJ: Leather.
<br />."I'm afraid to open it," he said with shaking hands. "1
<br />think we lost almost everything. We just lost the whole
<br />summer. We'll have to dig around and see what we've
<br />got." . .
<br />JerTY Brownfield, wearing a gun slra.pped to his hip,
<br />invited people into his store for his flood sale. As he
<br />talked, a sb-pack of soda. cereal hoJ:es,and other .l!oods
<br />
<br />from Brodie's Mafket whooshed by in the street tOrTent.
<br />Brownfield's family has owned Brownfleld Leatber for
<br />20 years. He and his father were watching the river early
<br />Thursday morning.
<br />"The river looked perfectly normal," he said. "Then the
<br />water started coming down, the street. a barrel hit the
<br />Iront window, and we all went up on the rool."
<br />As the tide crashed in; the store's thousand.pound safe
<br />overturned.
<br />Some store owners, even though they didn't have Insur.
<br />ance, seem resigned to the massive task of cleaning up In
<br />the f100d's wake.
<br />. They managed to smile and even joke about their fate
<br />- not the best circumstances (or a tourist town whose
<br />business withered alter the Big Thompson flood or 1976.
<br />"We'll get lots of publicity for this," said Onl'.
<br />"Yeah," agrt-ed Lee Yoder of Estes Park Uquor. ''The
<br />wrDnrkind."
<br />
<br />ESTES PARK - Under the circumstances, then!
<br />wasn't much ,else for Perry Blain to do but t-at potato
<br />chips at his kitchen table. .
<br />Tbe flood had sheared his mobile home In hall. His
<br />tK-droom and living room had tN:.oeu washed downstream,
<br />and he gazed with some amusement at his unelpec~ed
<br />riverside view.
<br />. "One thing 1 won't be doing tonlgbt," BJalnmused....is
<br />:~;e~~5 ~t ~k~t~~~~. The ster~ probably was buried In
<br />AI Olson waded Over to Blain's decimated home from
<br />bis nearby hotel. Olson pointed to 3 feet of muddy water.'
<br />where 14 log c, abins - part of the lodge he owns, Eiker's
<br />Motel - had stood just hours ago. "J got a new swimming
<br />pool und~ there," Olson said. "Wanna go for a dip?:'
<br />Gallows humor was as 10J:ical a reacti!?n as grief In
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