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<br />page 10 <br /> <br />Past Floods <br /> <br />The following flood accounts are typical of flood events which <br /> <br />have occurred along the South Platte River in and adjacent to the Sterling <br /> <br />a.rea. They are presented here to give some insight as to the source and <br /> <br />magnitude of flood waters from the South Platte River affecting the <br /> <br />Sterling area. <br /> <br />1844 -- Flood waters purportedly covered the bottomlands in the <br /> <br />Denver vicinity from bluff to bluff. <br /> <br />May June 1864 -- Three separate floods caused by heavy rains over <br /> <br />snow occurred during May and Jlllle on the South Platte River. <br /> <br />Flooding occurred in late May and again in early to mid- <br /> <br />June. The South Platte River flood was augmented down- <br /> <br />stream from Denver by tributary inflow from both the <br /> <br />mountain and plains tributaries. <br /> <br />May 1876 -- The flood of ,iate May 1876 resulted from rainfall on <br /> <br /> <br />snowpack. It was reputed to have been the highest flood <br /> <br />since 1864 in at least the Denver area. <br /> <br />June 1894 -- Heavy rainfall over the Front Range of the Rocky <br /> <br />Mountains caused; flooding on the South Platte River in <br /> <br />late May and early June. Flood waters purportedly covered <br /> <br />hundreds of acres in the Brush'vicinity. Old timers said <br /> <br />the ~outh Platte River was "fully two miles wide". The <br />I <br />, <br /> <br />Fort Morgan TiJnes of 8 June 1894 stated that "for 24 hours <br /> <br />on 2 June, the flood touched the caps on the tope of the <br /> <br />bridge piling". <br /> <br />'June 1921 -- Heavy rainfall over much of the upper South Platte <br /> <br />River basin caused flooding in Held County in early June. <br />