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Flood DescrIptions The following flood accounts are typlc~1 of flood events whIch have occurred along the South Platte River In and adjacent to Morgan and Washington CountIes, but are, by no means, a complete history of such. They are presented here to gIve some Insight as to the source and magnitude of floodwaters fr~ the South Platte RIver affecting Morgan and WashIngton Counties. 1844 _ Floodwaters purportedly covered the bottom lands in the Denver vIcinity from bluff to bluff, 1864 _ Three separate flOOdS caused by heavy raIns over snow occurred during May and June on the South Platte River. A resldentofPlattevllle InileldCounty later descrIbed the flood 0 f mid-May at that locatIon as the largcst flood he hadobscrved prior to 1925. Flooding occurred In late M8y and again i"earlytomld- June. The South Platte RIver flood was augmented downstream from Denver by trIbutary Inflow from both the mountain and plains tribu- taries. crest was comparable to that of the flood of 1894. The dIscharge of thIs flood at Kersey end at Belzac was the largest ever recorded at those locations except lor the flood of May 1973 end the flood of June 1965 respectIvely. 1935 _ Rains of cloudburst Intensity over the basIns of the plains tributaries to the South Platte RIver east of Denver occurred 00 30-31 May following the wettest May In Colorado in 48 years. It was reported that a "verltllblewall of water" lIppeared on Bljou Creek about 4 miles upstream from Its confluence wIth the South Platte River. The flood crest rellched Fort MorgM on 31 MlIy and was reported to be 10 feet above flood stage havIng a discharge of 84,300 cubic feet per second. The flood crest attenuated rapIdly as It flowed down the South Platte River from Fort Morgan. 1938 _ Heavy ralnfllll during the period from 30 ....ugust to 4 September over much of the upper South Platte River basIn caused flooding on many of the mountllln streams Tributary to the South Platte RIver as well as the South Platte River Itself. RelatIvely minor floodIng was reported on the South Platte River. 1942 - The flood of AprIl-May on the South Platte RIver was caused by excessIve rainfall and snowmelt. Thesustlllnedhlgh flOws created considerable d&mllge mlllnly due to erosion. Some levee f..ilureoccurrad. Farling temperatures In late AprIl turned the ralnfllll to snow liS well as SubsIding the melt of the existIng snow- pack thus preventIng more serIous floodIng. !949 - Heavy ralnfllll over a m~ltln9 Snowpllck ~aused flood- Ing on the South Platte RIver from mId-May to late June from littleton, Colorlldo to North Platte, Nebraska. Considerable damege WllS Incurred by homes, farm buIldings, and crops along that reach of the river. 1957-lntenselocal rlllns over the Sand Creek basin caused flooding on the South Platte River for a dlstllnce downstream from Sand Creek. High rural d/lmages were Incurred In some locations. 1965 _ Heavy to torrential rai nf~.,r lover IlIrge portions of the South Platte River basIn crellted ~xt~n~lv~ fl~dlng along the 1876 - The flood of lato May 1676 resulted from rainfllll on snowpack. It was reputed to have been the hIghest flood since 1864 in at least the Denver area. 1894 - Heavy rainhll over thq Front 'lange of the Rocky Mountlllns caused flooding on the South PllItte River in late May and early June. Floodwaters ~urported Iy covered hundreds of <lcres in the Brush vicinity. Old timers said the South Platte RIver was "fully two miles wIde". The Fort Morgan Tlmasof 8 June 189'\ stated that "for 24 hours on 2 June, the flood touched the caps on the top of the brIdge pIling". 1921 _ Hellvy rainfall over much of the upper South Platte River basin clluS~d flooding In Weld County in early June. Between Brighton and Orchard, the wooden brldgos were Impassable; two were destroyed and the approaches to the others were destroyed for a distance of sevoral hundred yards. At Fort ~rgan the water surface , 10 l