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<br />( <br /> <br />3. Lack of a flood detection network or remote spotter network precluded verification that <br />serious flash flooding was in progress or an estimate of its magnitude before it was too late for <br />meaningful warnings to be issued. <br /> <br />4. Lack of a flood warning plan for the populated flood plain resulted in poor <br />communication and confusion on the part of emergency response agencies as the flood <br />occurred. Planned response to the flash flood provided by a warning plan could have saved <br />lives. <br /> <br />The measure of how well we have learned our lesson from the Big Thompson Flash Flood could <br />be estimated from how well we have responded to these deflciencies in the flash flood response <br />and planning community. Would we be ready if another Big Thompson-like flash flood <br />occurs? <br /> <br />The lessons offered by the Big Thompson tragedy have a universal application and the focus of <br />this paper is to address how well we are responding to their challenge on a local scale. The <br />opinions offered are the author's and may strongly motivate or offend but are based on 18 years <br />of operational experiences within a flash flood prediction program. <br /> <br />Flood plain management <br /> <br />Awareness of flooding hazards to life and property continues to motivate well-planned responses <br />by flood plain managers to alleviate the hazards. The Implementation and successes of their <br />plans are too often dictated by politics, money and commitment rather than common sense or <br />need. Two local examples of creative insight to responding to a multitude of local hazards <br />posed by flash flooding can be found in the Urban Drainage & Flood Control of Denver, <br />Colorado (UDFCD) and the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC). The <br />birthing, establishment and nurturing of the UFDCD's Flash Flood Prediction Program ( F2P2) <br />was the vision of a flood plain manager responding to the deadly motivation of the Big Thompson. <br />This vision of a multi-agency program depends on the active involvement, investment and the <br />commitment of the local governments in the UDFCD, the state and federal government and the <br />private sector. <br /> <br />The F2P2 has been funded .since 1979 by the UDFCD. Prior to the F2P2 the Denver metro area <br />experienced about 5.5 deaths per year due to flash flooding related weather. Since 1979 only <br />one death due to flash flooding has occurred. It occurred in June 1984 when a women was <br />struck by a barrage of 2.00"+ diameter hailstones and knocked unconscious. She subsequently <br />drown in flooding produced by 4.00 inches of rain in less than 90 minutes. Is it fair to say that <br />the Denver metro area has been lucky despite rapidly growing population? Or is it more <br />valid to suggest that over 100 lives may have saved by the program? You be the judge! <br /> <br />A similar program has recently been started by the Flood Control District of Maricopa <br />County, Arizona and it is called the Meteorological Services Pilot Program or MSPP. The <br />MSPP is designed to respond to the unique flash flooding events of the desert, urban and <br />mountain environments of the county. The MSPP serves an area of over 6,500 square miles and <br />a rapidly growing population base that is slowly growing in awareness to its serious flash flooding <br />exposure. The MSPP began in January 1996 and will run to October 1997. It is described in <br />another paper in this conference. If the program experiences the same successes that the F2P2 <br />has accomplished, the MSPP will serve as a model for and component of a State-Wide Flood <br />Warning Network in Arizona. <br /> <br />Lesson learned: Flood plain managers can make a difference. Don't be afraid to try <br />innovative or creative solutions. <br /> <br />2 <br />