FLOOD08127

• County: Larimer
• Community: Big Thompson Canyon
• Stream Name: Big Thompson
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Newspaper - Ft. Collins Coloradoan: The Big Thompson, A Special Report
• Date: 8/1/1976
• Prepared For: Fort Collins Coloradoan
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Drawing/Map

12 rart Collins Coloradoan

August 1976

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Sherif{ ~ontinues to direct cleanup work
The worst is over, when will it end?

By GARY GILLEN
Of the Coloradoan

The strain of the last three weeks
is on his face. He has a tranqu1llook
in his eyes and he's tired, but he's
far from beaten.
The worst !!I over for Latimer
County Sheriff Robert C, Watson,
yet he asks: "\\'hen willltend?"
Work continues In the Big
Thompson Canyon where on July 31
between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. a
flash flood swept between rock walls
destroying all In its path. Now the
work !!I cleanup and body recovery.
Two weeks ago It was saving lives
and pro~rty.
During the first week of the
disaster, Watson directed rescue
operations from a command post in
Loveland, but now he can do most of
his work from Fort Collins. There Is
slUI a lot to do.
Patrolling the canyon, where the
department has three substations, is
a main concern. Paying the bills for
the rescue work in the past three
weeks is another concern.

The strain is on his foce,
but Watson's for from beaten

Sheriff Wat'lOn ill also looking back
over three weeks and tinding ways
to better prepare his department for
future dlsasters.
One of the things Watson would
like to do is Increase hls reserve
manpower. During the first week of
the disaster there were over 2!50
special deputies In the Big Thomp-
son Canyon, he noted,

The rescue effort Wall never short
of volunteers, the sheriff noted, but
there was no time to weed through
them to find the most dependable.
That must be done before they are
needed.
Some program should be started
to organize rescue groups also, he
added. They must be ready to go on
short notice.

Watson had high praise for the
groups that did help v.1lli the rescue
effort. The groups included the U.S.
Army, Rocky Mountain Rescue, the
Larimer County &-arch and Rescue,
Empire Search and Rescue and
Jeffersol1 County Search and Rescue
and many others.

"These kids did a really good job
and had little thought for their own
property that was used," he said.

DURING THE firs~ two days alter
the flood, about 1,000 persons were
evacuated from the canyon, Watson
""d.

The sheriff also would Itke to have
better communications available for
future dlsastprs of this size. He
hopes to get some federal funding
for additional radio equipment.

The steep rock walls 0; the canyon
made communication in and out of
the disaster area very difficult. A
relay station had to be set up on a
mountain top to retransmit
messages out of the canyon.
Early in the disaster, ham radio
operators assisted the sheriff in
sending messages to Denver and
other areas.
Citizen band radios were more of a
problem than a help in the disaster
recovery effort. Watson said. The
operators werp not organized.
In tIle future. the sheriff would like
to organize a small group to be
responsible for coordinating citizen
band communicatlotul.
"We need a nucleus of responsible
CB operators with the rest on
standbY. Without coordination, CBs
are a plague in this situation," he
added.
THE DEPARTMENT also needs
to build a more defln1te cha.1n of
Command and establish a better
system for p3.'>Ses, Watson said.
Experience has shown the sheriff
command officers can be used
better in the field than on road
blocks.
Also during last week, Sherltf
Watson has had time to respond to a
few critical questions regarding the
department's actions before and
after the floocl.

.

Some canyon residents felt the
departmpnt should have done more
to warn residents of the coming
flood.
The lUlpredlctable movements of
the storm that caused the flood Is the
main reason the sheriff gives for the
short warning. Also, many residents
retu.-.ed to move even alter being
told or the coming waters.
,
"It's useless to blame the weather
service or anyone !!flie lbr nut
predicting where the storm would
drop rain. It's like having a tornado
In the area and not knowing where it
wID touchdown," he said.
.
Some deputies went through
campgrounds warning persons up to
three Urnes. They refused to believe
such a serious flood could happen.
others walted too long to evacuate.
Watson told of a man who walted
until the water reached the top of his
clothesline before leaving home. He
survivE'd, but was lucky, the sheriff
remarked.

'.

THE SPEED of body recovery is
another point where the department
is being criticized. Some say a
higher priority should be given to
finding persons still missing.
Watson responds to this by saying
that the scale of devastation is so
great, that so much debris has been
plJed up that it will take time to sift
through It.

He told of a part of the river that
appeared to be washed out to the
base. But, after digging a few feet,
rescuers found an entire automobile
burled underneath.
Bodies could be in many pieces, or
they could be caught in very small
places. It is doubtful that all the
casualties will ever be found, said
the sheriff.

To get an idea of the problem, one
must see the disaster area, Watson
said. Boulders several Urnes the size
of an automoblJe were moved by the
flood.
Watson said road blocks will be
maintained at canyon entrances
unW a good road can be -built. The
present road is passable only by
four-wheel.drive vehicle.

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The strain of the rescue operation shows on foce of Sheriff Robert Watson

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Watson directs news briefing

Many area policemen
volunteered time

During the re<:ent flood in the Big
Thomp.son River Canyon, respon-
sible volunteers were always in
demand. Many of them came from
law enforcement agencies like the
Colorado State Patrol, CSU police
and Fort Collins police.
Lt. Marvin E. Schlageter of the
Colorado State Patrol headquarters
here estimates that about 40
patrolmen were used during the
disaster.
Their duties Included traffic
control. towing vehicles and road
blocks. The patrol will continue to
identify vehicles found in the canyon
for weeks to come, Schlageter said.
The patrol also provided vital
communlcatiotul equJpment for use
during the disaster recovery effort.
Schlageter also established a road
block at Poudre Canyon on July 31.

Fort Collins pollee sent nine men
to the disaster site to help the
recovery effort, noted ChIef Ralph
M. Smith. Other policemen volun-
teered many hours of their time.
According to pollce estimates, a
total of 168 hours were spent by Fort
Collins oftlcers in the canyon.
City pollee also helped the
sheriff's department cover the rest
of the county by answering calls
near the city.
CSU police contributed about 10
persons to the disaster operation and
spent some 136 hours, according to
estimates by Chief M. Wayne
Teegarden.
The officers helped with road
blocks, security and command post
operation.

Deputies remember feeling helpless

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A volunteer carries young girl to oiotion

The father went bock;
he never returned

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"

What they remember most about
that Ink-black night in the Big
Thompson River Canyon on July 31
is a feeling of helplessness.

As they stood on the edge of the
flooding river that night, deputies
from the LarImer County Sheriffs
Department could see people, both
aUve and dead, being swept away.
The swttt current and fast.moving
debris made rescue impossible.

Capt. Terry Urista lives near the
canyon mouth and was among the
first to give warning of the coming
flood. Later Urlsta and Deputy
James J. Garcia would be trapped
by the rtslngwater.

It wasn't even raining at the
Urtsta home when the call came at
about 9 p.m. He told his wile he
expected to be back home in about
half an hour.

The captain. who had been with
the department six of his 28 years.
started up the canyon warning all he
saw to evacuate. Watching the
river, Urtsta recalls It was high but
didn't look dangerous. But, when he
rounded a bend near the narrows,
Urlsta saw something shock1n~.
U.S. 34 had been destroyed by the
river. The water was getting high
and more violent by the second.
"I usually don't get excited over
anything, but when I saw that high-
way out I yelled a message over the
radio to get everyone out of the
canyon fast," Urlsta rembers.

By this time the rain was falling so
hard that driving was almost 1m.
possible. Urlsta started back down.
Garcia was on regular patrol the
night of the flood. He began warning
people shortly after 9 p.m., and
pulled a woman from the muddy
water_

The two men met at Cedar Cove
during the height of the flood. Garcia
went back into the water after
hearing of a child tra~ped in a
stranded auto, but after inching
along a Wellne for yards he found
the car empty. Urlsta would not let
him go back into the water any more
that nJght.
The deputies saw people trapped
In the middle of the r1~r as they
were driving down the canyon
,sounding the warning. Monday
morning most of them were gone,
Urlstarecalls.

All that night Urista and Garcia
watched the river with their car
lights. 'The hours seemed to run
together as reports came over their
radio and bodies floated down river.

Propane tanks from houses and
trailers whistled and gurgled as they
went by; trees cracked like rtfle
shots all through the night.

CAPI', JOHN'Englebert spent that
night In the canyon too. He and
Sheriff Robert Watson had set up a
command post at the Merry Ax.

It was total chaos that night, the
captain said. The radio channels
were jammed, the rain was pouring
down In sheets, the river was over
the highway and people were
trapped.

Englebert got on his radio and
ordered U.S. 34 blocked at both ends
of the canyon, he ordered a
helicopter and shouted other orders
as he stood in the downpour.

A report came over the air that S-
car was floating down the Mver
toward the command post.

"It had Its lights on and I could see
people inside; it zoomed by us and
was never heard from again; there
was noting we could do," Englebert
recalls. .

Deputy Morgan Porter recalls an
inddent that occurred near the
Fireside Motel where a family of
five was ltYing.

The family left Its home when
the waters were threatening; but the
father went back to release some
pigs in a shed. He never returned.

Porter said he had to restrain the
mother who appeared to be trying to
enter the water to get her husband.
Porter and about 20 other persons
spent the night by the river.

Deputy Byron Wlcks is eredlted
with rescuing an elderly couple and
a young boy in Poudre Canyon
durtngthe flooding thereon July 31.

He used his mountain climbing
training to rig a line across the river
and carry out a retired couple and a
12-year-oldboy.

"TIle quality and dedication of our
people and their abUlty to continue
functioning Is remarkable. Nobody
complained and everyone pulled
together," Urtsta commented.
"There's a lot of esprit de corps In
the department these days."