FLOOD08973 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

in the other area it was reported to have been as much as nine inches in six hours. The rainfall :tn the upper area was reported to have occurred first so that runoff combined with that below to produce the largest flood of record at Pueblo. The peak discharge of 103,000 cubic feet per second occurred at midnight on June 3. Above La Junta the effect of valley storage on peak attrition was obscured by .the inflow from tributary streams and the peak discharge at La .Junta was 200,000 cubic feet per second. North La Junta was flooded; water was 4 to 6 feet deep on Second Street and reached the Otero County Jail. It was reported that l3 persons were drowned although some of the bodies were not found until June 9. Areas in .the Huer- fano and Purgatoire Rivers and in Timpas, Adobe, and Horse Creek were flooded. Heavy rains occurred on the main stem of the Arkansas River from La Junta to Lamar. . Below La Junta tributary inflow was small. May 1955 During the period of May l7-20, heavy precipitation oc- curred over the lower mountains and plains of eastern Colorado, north- eastern New Mexico and western Kansas. Precipitation over the mountainous areas was principally in the form of wet snow. The storm began on the afternoon of May l7 over the entire area and continued through the 19th in New Mexico and Kansas. At Lake Moloya, near Raton, New Mexico, l3.59 inches occurred in 48 hours, with ll.28 inches measured during the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. on the 19th. Major flooding occurred in the Arkansas River watershed from Pueblo to John Martin Reservoir. The Arkansas River at .Pueblo peaked at ll,lOO cubic feet per second and produced very little flooding. As the flood progressed downstream, the peak increased to 50,000 cubic feet per second at La Junta and caused major flood damage to North La Junta. There were 236 residents, five businesses, one school, and one church in the flooded area of North La Junta. Streets and public 10