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<br />3.0 <br /> <br />" i <br />",' <br />\' <br /> <br />~'> <br /> <br />Walsenburg does not have any formal flood-fighting or emergency <br />evacuation procedures. Notification of inhabitants of impending <br />emergencies would be handled through the local police department. <br />Flood fighting would be coordinated through the office of the mayor. <br /> <br />The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather <br />Service, provides no specific flood forecasts for the area. The <br />technology of accurate river and flood forecasting depends on adequate <br />and timely rainfall and river-stage data, and it is essential that <br />such basic data, particularly rainfall reports, be available for <br />areas subject to flash flooding. <br /> <br />The National Weather Service Office located in Denver, Colorado, <br />supplies weather forecasts four times daily for the area. In addi- <br />tion to the routine forecasts and special forecasts of Severe storms, <br />general flash-flood warnings are issued on a countywide basis to <br />Walsenburg, which lies within Huerfano County, as required. Walsen- <br />burg is within the range of the National Weather Service WSR-S7 <br />radar at Limon, Colorado, which is capable of detecting areas of <br />intense precipitation and tracking their movement. Radar observation <br />of intense precipitation and projection of storm movement gives <br />some lead time for flash-flood warnings, which are promptly dissem- <br />inated to all news media and local officials by the best communica- <br />tions available, including telephone and teletype. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Walsenburg has adopted flood plain management standards that are <br />necessary to qualify for participation in the NFIP. <br /> <br />ENGINEERING METHODS <br /> <br />For the flooding sources studied in detail in the community, standard <br />hydrologic and hydraulic study methods were used to determine the flood <br />hazard data required for this study. Flood events of a magnitude which <br />are expected to be equaled or exceeded once on the average during any <br />10-, SO-, 100-, or SOO-year period (recurrence interval) have been selected <br />as having special significance for flood plain management and for flood <br />insurance rates. These events, commonly termed the 10-, SO-, 100-, and <br />SOO-year floods, have a !!!.< 2, j., and 0.2 percent chance, respectively, <br />of being equaled or exceeded during any year. Although the recurrence <br />interval represents the long-term average period between floods of a <br />specific magnitude, rare floods could occur' at short intervals or eVen <br />within the same year. The risk of experiencing a rare flood increases <br />when periods greater than 1 year are considered. For example, the risk <br />of having a flood which equals or exceeds the 100-year flood (1 percent <br />chance of annual exceedence) in any 50-year period is approximately 40 <br />percent (4 in 10), and, for any gO-year period, the risk increases to <br />approximately 60 percent (6 in 10). The analyses reported herein reflect <br />flooding potentials based on conditions existing in the community at the <br /> <br />9 <br />