FLOOD07477

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: 1996 Colorado Flood Report
• Date: 1/1/1996
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: CWCB
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

1996 The chronology

as realized 1 Until the middle of April it appeared that the state would experience less than
a age snowfall and that preparations would be needed for drier than average conditions. About
two eeks later things had changed. By the middle of May, the State's Flood Task Force had
held it second weekly meeting with Denver television and newspaper med" in attendance. By
the end f May heavy, rains had caused flooding and storm drainag problems in several
communiti in the Front Range and Eastern Colorado. Shortly after the iddle of June, the first
significant sn wmelt peak flows were experienced in many mountain an foothills communities as
well as plains ommunities along the South Platte and Arkansas . vers and some of their
tributaries. In th middle of July, the second significant snowmelt ak flows were experienced
on a few mountain ~d foothills streams.
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In most affected'izommunities flood frequencies ranged b tween a lO-year frequency (10%
chance each year) and a SO-year frequency (2% chance eac ear). In a few communities, the
flood frequency approache~he 100-year frequency (1% ch ce each year). Some stream reaches
experienced the flood of recolf or the second largest flood f record.
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Sandbagging on South Clear Creek - Georgetown, CO

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~ages were principally to agricultural land and crops and to public . frastructure.
Throut~~od hazard mitigation work following the floods of 1983 and 1984 and the igh runoff
of 1993, through preparations undertaken primarily by state and local government agencies
during May, June and July of 1995, through extensive media coverage of the flood th at, and