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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />higher than it ~as the day before, the current covered the D~RC Rail- <br />road yard with several feet and filled the lo~er part of the station... <br />The river flowed through and across the fish pond sod s~imrning pool fill- <br />1ng them"ith silt and sand". <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />rocky silt, ctmscd it [0 rise ",ithou[ jllmping the banks for a [1",c." <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />On July 2, 1973, the Ouray County Platodealer reported the most recent <br />serious flooding. "It came in like sangbusters at ":30 P.~. Sunday, a <br />ripping, roaring, frightening cloudburst accompanied by lightning, <br />thunder, ..tod and heavy hail. After less than a h.,lf hour of hellralsing, <br />the storm swept out again, having deposited 0.94 inches of precipitation <br />..hieh sent Cascade Flurne into flaooing chaos..... TheheavyrLlnofffrot'l <br />Cascade Creek thundered cleanly down the flume across town until the de- <br />scent leveled off near the Uncompahgre River. There it clogged quickly, <br />and debris backed up about 300 feet to the Main Street underp3ss. V~cant <br />lots received the ",orst of it, and ""ere flooded all the way to the r ivcr." <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />ThcAugust2, 1929 Ouray Herald added the follo",Jingdetails, "t"oof the <br />most terrific storms ever witnessed in the history of Ouray, co~ing less <br />than two days apart, caused damage to property and roads estimated to be <br />near $150,000, and Ouray today is digging out of piles of debris consist- <br />ing of rocks, trees, lumber, bridges, logs and mud. A third storm on the <br />third day ",as mild, but added to the damage done by the cloudbursts of the <br />, .- <br />previous aya. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Minor cloudburst and heavy rains continued to occur within the study area <br />watershedbutnolllajor floodingwaa experienced until 1951. On August 4th <br />of that year the Montrose Daily "!'ress reported "The Cem City of the Rockies <br />waa clearing away the debris of its worst flood in 22 years Friday and its <br />residents were somewhat apprehensive of a repeat performance of the water <br />spout that struck late Thursday afternoon to send torrents of water, mud, <br />rocks and logs rolling down normal dryw"shes and city thoroughfarca ." <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />The obscrvations of Mr. 'Gallaghcr were substantiated during this storm >lith <br />the Flalndealcr glving this account. "The flume blockage created a phenom- <br />enon not often Seen. For some time after the flume becamc plugged all the <br />way from the river to Main Street Bridge, water was running about two feet <br />abovegroundlevelinaneatpathasifbetweeninviaiblewalls,fort",enty <br />feet before it spread out where land leveled off. This apparently occurs <br />because as the flume is filled with ailt, gravel and other fine dcbris, <br />the water is coming down with such force that it squeezed up through the <br />gunk but its momentum keeps it running on Course for a time, ",ithin walls <br />that aren't there." <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />It was then another 14 yeara until Ouray was onCe again struck by heavy <br />flooding. TheJuly7,19650urayCountyHeraldreported"Aclo\ldbursthigh <br />up Portland and Cascade Creeks Sunday nightw"shed down tons of ro cks, trees <br />and mud from the mountain sides east of town. Both creeks run through town <br />in cement flumes. These soon became plugged with debris and the water flow- <br />ed across parts of town, through a number of hones. Ouray began cleaning <br />up its meSa late Sundny evening, work continued without interruption through <br />the night and all day Monday. (Then on Tueaday), a heavy rain started fall- <br />ing at 9 o'clock and by 11 Portland Creek "'a~ again floorlinr,. It burst ant <br />of its Il~" channel and cut acruss town in seoHal p1"ces, flooding rr.any <br />homesthathadpreviou$lyeseaped." Damag"s from these storooswas conslder- <br />able and relief funda amounting to $20,292 for repair of the flumes and <br />restor..UonoftheaffectedareaswerereceivedfromtheFederalOHieeof <br />Emergency Preparedness. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Dcspitc the frequency and ferocity of the fL~sh Hoods throughout the study <br />area, loss of human life has been surprisingly rare. Only four incidents <br />were uncovered, three in 1906 and one in 1927. The June 1, 1906 Ouray <br />Herald recordod "A dOLld is belicved to have burst and swelled Fors",an <br />Creek into a raSing flood that bore down logs, trees, and earth and tore <br />Ollt the fraU hridge structure leavIng the track ,""spended on ties twcnty <br />fect above." Train engineer James O'~eil dced \<Ihen his enginc phmged in- <br />to the cha"mbefore he could bring it to a stop. taterthntsamnyear, two <br />rainerswerefound dead in a a,nalladit. TheAugust3,19060urayHerald <br />gave the following account' "Evidently they had taken refuge from the rain <br />in this tunnel and a cloudburst on the mountain above had caused a torrent <br />of water to come down che little gulch beside which the tunnel is located, <br />carrying debris which filled the little tunnel almost to the breast..... <br />The men could not possibly have lived but a few moments aftcr the torrent <br />washed in th" debris, as tbe space remaining w.~s quite small and was in .,11 <br />pr<>babilityalmost or completely filled with water." <br />The 1927 casualty was reported in the August 5th Montrose ~nterprise aa <br />f<>U"ws. "B..lieved to be a victim of the recent high waters, the b"dy of <br />Henry Cuddigan, 50, a rancher, ~as found in a field near his ~abin. The <br />field bas been flooded by the creek (Uncompahgre), which had overfiowed its <br />banks Wednesday night." <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Although repairs were mode they did not stem the tide of future floods as <br />the area was hit hard in 197I and again in 1973. The Ouray County Plain- <br />dealer'sSeptember2,197ieditiondeseribedthefollowingflood. "Heavy <br />doudhursta Friday aftern"on ",,"sed most t>f ,,"'hitehouse}lountain'a east drain- <br />age to cut loose in a flooding rampage, down on Ouray and the area north of <br />tOwo. Considerable damage was done by Oak Creek, Corbett Creek, Coal Creek <br />and Forsman Creek, to roads, water and sewer lines, though yards, patiOS, <br />basements and hayfields got their share of flooding from vafious sOurces.... <br />According to the oldtimcrs in Ouray, Oak Creek has kept its temper stnce <br />1929 but it did a ,ood deal of da",aae Friday. At one time, it plugged the <br />. 0 kk'- <br />Uncompahgre with large boulders and debris, and made a temporary a e. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Dur:lngthis storm an interesting phe"omenon was reported l>y a loca 1 resident, <br />TomCallagber, whenh<, observf'd thc ".aters of Oak Cr<,,,k running a bov.,its <br />banks. His inte"prt>t.~tion \<Ias that "the heaviness of the rUIloff of mucky, <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />-18- <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />-19- <br />