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~ sustained flood damage, mainly to basement levels. The flooding affected the older section of town the worst, due to a combination of that area receiving the most rainfall and having an out-dated storm drainage system. The total damage was $438,000, as a result of 51 homes with flooded basements and 16 low-lying businesses with damage in the Old Town area. Flooding ofPoudre Valley Hospita] occurred because roof drains were unable to handle the volume of water on the roof. Localized flooding associated with the July 1997 flood also affected Old Town and severa] neighborhoods on the west side of the City. These areas experienced considerable damage. These areas were constructed prior to current storm drainage criteria. The rains in late April and early May of ] 999 set severa] records. April was the second wettest month since record keeping began in Fort Collins in ]889. A total of 8.29 inches fell at the CSU Main Campus gage in Apri] with 7.64 inches of that coming after the 20th of the month. The rainfall total for Apri] 29-30 was 4.15 inches. This value is within the top ten 2-day total rainfall for the CSU Main Campus gage. 1997 Flooding .-- On July 28, ] 997 with hours of intense rainfall, a flash flood hit the central portion of Fort Collins, Colorado. A monsoonal moisture pattern from the south got trapped against the foothills, unleashing the heaviest 24-hour precipitation ever recorded in the area. As swollen creeks and drainage channels overflowed, flood waters poured across the City in the late evening, forcing many people to evacuate. In addition to destroying two mobile home parks, floodwaters swept four rail freight cars off their tracks and triggered an explosion at a nearby business. Nearly 400 people were rescued, many escaping through windows or clinging to the rooftops oftheir homes in the dark. while others were plucked from automobiles caught in the flood. Emergency shelters were quickly filled and tales of heroic rescues circulated throughout the community in the days following the flood. The flood, estimated to be in excess of a 500-year flood. left a path of destruction through the central portion of the City. Five lives were lost, 54 were injured and damage estimates may exceed $200 million (including CSU). Hardest hit were the Johnson Center Mobile Home Park and the South College Trai]er Park which were comp]etely destroyed. Other areas that received damage include those areas along Spring Creek, facilities of the Poudre School District, the campus of Colorado State University, which had damage to 25 buildings, and the Old Town, Canal Importation and West Vine Drainage Basins, as well as along severa] irrigation canals. President Clinton declared Larimer County a major disaster area on August], ] 997. ..-... According to Red Cross estimates, about ]40 homes (inc]uding ]20 mobile homes and 19 apartment units) were destroyed. Information from the Federal Emergency 13