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<br />Consequences of the Flood <br /> <br />Three lives were lost as a resu,lt of the failure of Lawn Lake Dam, two of <br />which can be directly attributable to the rapid increase in flood depths <br />'caused by the failure of Cascade Lake Dam. All the fatalities were people <br />camped in Rocky Mountain National Park. A 21-year-old Wisconsin man was <br />camped at Roaring River Campsite and did not survive the flood. There were <br />two fatalities among people camped at Aspenglen Campground which included a <br />20-year-old Texas woman and a 36-year-old Illinois man. <br /> <br />Property damage, summarized in a request for Federal disaster assistance, was <br />estimated to be $21 million. This estimate included: $11.9 million in <br />damage to private nonagricultural property; $3.0 million in agricultural <br />damage; $4.1 million to public property; and $2.0 million to Federal property <br />in the National Park. Much of the private nonagricultural damage occurred at <br />resort motels from Estes Park to 2 miles upstream from Estes Park where the <br />density of motels quickly decreases. About 200 businesses in downtown Estes <br />Park were flooded and although content damage at some was significant, <br />structural damage was generally minor. <br /> <br />The Warning Experience <br /> <br />F~r the purpose of discussion, the sequences of human response to the <br />flooding has been categorized into three stages: (1) detection of the dam <br />failure; (2) dissemination of the warnings; and (3) response to the warnings. <br /> <br />1. Detection of the dam failure. - Lawn Lake Dam was unattended and <br />contained no instrumentation which could be used to detect an impending or <br />actual dam failure. Although there were campers who heard or observed the <br />flood at Lawn Lake Dam and at campsites along Roaring River, they had no <br />way of rapidly transmitting information to Rocky Mountain National Park, <br />Larimer County, or Estes Park officiais. <br /> <br />At about 6:18 a.m., a truckdriver for A-I Trash Service of Estes Park <br />heard some noise at the Lawn Lake Trailhead while collecting trash at this <br />location. The Lawn Lake Trailhead is located in Horseshoe Park, about <br />5-1/2 miles downstream from Lawn Lake Dam. At first, he thought a jet was <br />crashing. He continued west along Endovalley Road a little way and then <br />saw mud and debris on the road. He then immediately returned to the Lawn <br />Lake Trailhead and there used an emergency telephone to report his obser- <br />vation to the National Park Service Dispatch Center [16]. His call was <br />received at 06:23 a.m. [26]. <br /> <br />2. Dissemination of the warnings. - An integral part of this stage of <br />the warning process was the decision to warn the public. The decisions <br />regarding when and how warnings should be given and to whom were made by <br />Rocky Mountain National Park, Larimer County, and Estes Park officials. <br /> <br />Campers along the banks of the Roaring River received no official warning. <br />However, environmental warnings, such as seeing trees breaking and hearing <br />the roar of the river, described by many as like continuous thunder, must <br />have been Quite forceful. This was the only area where official warnings <br />were not disseminated. <br /> <br />3 <br />