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<br />,! STORM STRIKES AGAIN
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<br />1120 residents evacuate Weldona
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<br />Plains town, underwater for 2nd time in a month, received no flood warning
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<br />.... ,Roc~. L49Yntain News
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<br />By TII1" foq
<br />.ndhrucl.lW.n.u
<br />Nil,.' "'IIMN/a;N NtWli .'i,~j/\Vrdm
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<br />WD.DONA _ All 12f1 resilIent! in
<br />this rural cummunity were evacuated
<br />and the National (~uard hrouRht in
<br />Wt'dnesday aft('r a canal burst and
<br />flnnded the town.
<br />II was the seeimd time tht~ town
<br />has flooded in a month.
<br />"We have:1 feet IIf standinR watt'r,"
<br />said Kevin Kurctich, emt'rRency man.
<br />il~tt'ment director for Mnrj:/an County.
<br />"Tllt're was no warninK, Our first
<br />!1l1 call came when a pt'JSon woke up
<br />and there was water runninK into the
<br />hnllsc."
<br />There were nn injuries or deaths.
<br />Tht' Riverside Canal, about a mile
<br />north Ilf thc unincorporatcd commu-
<br />Il1ly !to milt.s nnrtht'ast of 1lt'llver,
<br />ovt'rflowcd in lour places Thcsllay
<br />niRht betwct'O 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.
<br />"My dnK woke me UI) around 12-
<br />I heard water runninR." said Gerald
<br />Shaver, transpnrtation director at
<br />Weldon Valley Schools.
<br />"lthouRht somethinK in the base-
<br />ment broke until I looMt'd out the door
<br />and saw the river."
<br />Kuretich said heavy rains caused
<br />c canal to overflow.
<br />"We were lotlking at 7 to 9 inches
<br />of rain in that two.hour period," he
<br />said.
<br />A six-block area, about 1\0 percent
<br />of the town, soon was inundated. In
<br />some places water was 6 feet deep.
<br />"Eighty percent of the homes were
<br />flooded," Kuretich said.
<br />MorKan Connty officials evacuated
<br />nine people, mostly elderly. from
<br />flooded homes durinK the first few
<br />hours.
<br />The National Guard was called in at
<br />4 a.m. Wednesday to help assess dam-
<br />age, estimated at $620,000. .
<br />Damaged buildings included 30
<br />homes, the U.S. Post Office, the Wel-
<br />don Valley School and two business.
<br />es,
<br />The mandatory evacuation was put
<br />into place Wednesday afternoon for
<br />health reasons, not because of risinR
<br />water.
<br />"There is a concern Ihat individual
<br />wells may have been contllminated
<br />wilh flood water and water systems
<br />may be down," said MOTHan County
<br />Commissioner Mark Arndt.
<br />"The water has to finish running
<br />through the town.'
<br />About 1:20 p.m.. Sgt, Jack Darnell
<br />of the Colorado State l'auol urged
<br />that the town be evacuated within a
<br />half.hour. Hy 2 p.m., the town was
<br />almost empty.
<br />"If il rains again, it will get wurst',"
<br />hell3id.
<br />Wiggins Elemt'ntary School was
<br />opened as a shelter, hut only eij:/ht
<br />people showed up. said Steve Thrus-
<br />ton, chairman of Red Cross dill3sler
<br />services in Morgan County.
<br />"We arc pushing for monetary
<br />funds,~o we can buy what the families
<br />need.
<br />t'ets who didn't accompany their
<br />ownen were taken to the Fort Mor.
<br />ian lIumaneSodtlty.,.~.
<br />,S:QJnc: (l~lff' 9f,da,roaged property
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<br />1
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<br />I\MGHClW>I>ilI7JSw:o.Itt)lhII~
<br />Channel 7's helicopter pilot took this aerial phOto showing the Riverside Canal, which overf\~ and flooded the town.
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<br />Storm conditions
<br />may linger in area
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<br />E"'JI~Io\OuI'U"'-
<br />Norm ~hler leads his sister-in.law's horse out of flooded Weldona, 'We
<br />have 3 feet of standing water," said Morgan COunty official Kevin Kuretich.
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<br />By Joe. Sallko 8.5 inches of rain in five
<br />8MIt, j;f;;.lItaill NtWf StaffWrittT hours in the foothills west of
<br />the city, pushing normally
<br />Coloradans are going to placid Spring Creek out of
<br />have to keep a wary eye on its banks.
<br />the skies. It was typical Colorado
<br />The monsoonar'lloY of weather for July and August.
<br />moisture that created the "This partiCIJlar year it
<br />killer storm that struck Fort has been stronger than in
<br />Collins and spawned storms the last couple of years,"
<br />that swamped other parts of said Koopmeiners. "But this
<br />the state may stick around, is not an unusual thing."
<br />the National Weather Ser- Meteorologist Steve
<br />vice said Wednesday. Paulson with KMGH Chan.
<br />"It's going to be around nI'l 7 in Denver agrees Col-
<br />tor a couple more days at oradtl isn't completely out of
<br />least," said foreasler Bob the woods, but uys the situ.
<br />Koopmeinen. "Well into ation definitely is improv-
<br />the weekend and early next ing.
<br />week." For one thing, the mon-
<br />Flash-flood watches were soon flow carrying moi!lture
<br />don't have flood insurance. the community Wednesday night, issued Wednesday for more from the south has shifted
<br />"We'll have to wait tor the water to with a command post on the west than a dozen counties .loog more towards western
<br />go down, 1 guess," Ryan Hoke said. edge of Weldon a along Colorado 144. the Front Range and in east. Colorado, and skies are
<br />"There are some sinkholes you No one will be allowed into the area em Colorado. beginning 10 clear in tome
<br />could fall in up to your waist out at least until today. Saturated soil made the eastern areas of the state. In
<br />there." The summer's first flood in Wel- situation even more preeari. addition, the upslope winds
<br />Waterrecededslowly-ifatall- dona occurred last month, when 18 ous. However, a drying willbeshiftingtodownslope
<br />Wednesday. in~hes of water poured in_ trend has started an-d will by today.
<br />"We have an abandoned railroad Tex Covelli said he's not looking continue- in some parts of "When you combine the
<br />grade from Union i".acific:' Kuretich forward to the cleanup work ahead. the state because of a shift monsoon moisture coming
<br />said. . "It causes a lot of extra work:' he in upper.atmosphere winds, up from the south and the
<br />"It Sits across lhe hlgh'o'iay (Col- said. Koopmeinen. said. upslope wmds we have had
<br />orado 144) and It's formlOg Its own lit. ''It's not l1~tng to be fun. It.s pretty _ _ The s,tonn, ,that caused 9q most oftblS week, you havt
<br />tlelake." ',,___~_~_ ~-,~;/am~II1&~~o~!'ta~Ji,taU"pV~(i :J,t!lUSq.~~~.I11..,i~;1'.iA'il.'ort t~e r~cipe for a. bad ~it\lfl-
<br />111e county set up secunty aroun whenever &lie wan I to. );lnlh",J2 11~A~A~JI'iV.Rf~ 'UWJt rfNl6~I",!!Iffl\"j\ld.
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