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<br />. <br /> <br />The flood on Dry Creek washed away or seriously damaged nearly <br /> <br /> <br />everything in its path. Three lives were lost. Dry Creek eroded new <br /> <br />and wider channels in many places and caused considerable loss of land. <br /> <br />1976 BIG THOMPSON RIVER FLOOD <br /> <br /> <br />The Big Thompson River basin is adjacent to and south of the Cache <br /> <br /> <br />la Poudre River basin. This historic flood serves as an indication of <br /> <br /> <br />flood problems in the mountain area of the Cache la PDudre River basin. <br /> <br />Atmospheric conditions on 31 July 1976 combined to feed a heavy <br /> <br />inflow of moist air into the Front Range area of Colorado. This <br /> <br /> <br />created unstable conditions unusually favorable for thunderstorms. <br /> <br />Saturday, 31 July 1976, was the beginning of a 3-day weekend to <br /> <br /> <br />celebrate Colorado's centennial. In the 20-mile long Big Thompson <br /> <br /> <br />Canyon, there were as many as 2,500 visitors and permanent residents of <br /> <br /> <br />all ages, Between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., a light rain began in the <br /> <br /> <br />Estes Park area, in the upstream part of the canyon. An explosive thun- <br /> <br />derstorm developed, with thunderheads ranging up tD 62,000 feet stal- <br /> <br /> <br />ling instead of moving across the area as they usually do. Torrential <br /> <br />rains estimated at up to 12 inches in 4 hours fell in the part of the <br /> <br /> <br />basin between Estes Park and Drake. <br /> <br />Between 6 p.m. and 8 p,m., travelers were encountering rain of <br /> <br /> <br />increasing intensity. The first warnings of an imminent disaster came <br /> <br /> <br />from telephone reports of torrential rains, rising water, and washouts <br /> <br /> <br />along u.S. Highway 34 by people who were experiencing difficulties in <br /> <br /> <br />the canyon. Early in the flood period, both ends of the highway escape <br /> <br />route were destroyed and it became a death trap for frantic motorists. <br /> <br />At approximately 8:25 p.m., calls reporting flooding and reques- <br /> <br /> <br />ting aid started the chain Df events which would result in the effort <br /> <br />to warn peDple about the flash flood. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />23 <br />