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<br />'~~'
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<br />
<br />..~,;:"',tating flood about due in Colorad
<br />
<br />uelora devas,
<br />_c..that claimed
<br />. on 10 years
<br />ontrol offi-'
<br />
<br />Denver and Colorado Springs, would block
<br />the storm from moving south.
<br />"It could easily happen because Denver's
<br />average rainfall is 16 inches, higher than
<br />other places along the Front 'Range," he
<br />said.
<br />The flash flood that scoured through the
<br />"
<br />
<br />could prevent people from building there,
<br />but we can't now." - .
<br />The consensus of the 90 meteorologists, .
<br />geologists, sociologists and other scientists
<br />at the conference was that more data are
<br /><available about predicting storms, perhaps a
<br />glut. But the different scientific disciplines
<br />
<br />, The same phenomenon could exist in the Denver area
<br />as in the Big Thompson Canyon.' .
<br />
<br />Larry Lang, flood control chief
<br />of the Colorado Water Conservation Board
<br />
<br />Big Thompson Canyon in Larimer County
<br />west of Loveland was propelled out of the
<br />Rocldes by 12 inches. of. rain that fell the
<br />night of July 31, 1976. The storm took more
<br />lives than any other natural disaster in state
<br />history, caused $30 million in damage and
<br />again warned Coloradans that lovely moun"
<br />tain streams can turn deadly.. ,.
<br />But; "we stili i1ave people claiming after a
<br />flood that they dOll'tknow they're living in a
<br />flood plain even though they're right at the
<br />mouth of a canyon," said Pat Byrne, the
<br />state director Of emergem!y"services; "U we
<br />were starting from scratch, perhaps we
<br />
<br />do a poor job of sharing informatiOn and
<br />alerting the public about the potential for
<br />storms, some admitted.
<br />
<br />. "It is' our preference to believe that we
<br />are not going to die in a natural disaster,"
<br />said Dennis Mileti, a sociology professor and
<br />director of the Hazards Assessment Labora-
<br />tory at Colorado State University:
<br />
<br />He praised the signs in Colorado canyons
<br />'.that tell motorists to "climb to safety" as
<br />effective warnings' because they' speak di-
<br />.rectly and simply to lhosein peril. Many of
<br />those who died in the canyon were caught in
<br />
<br />their cars as they attempted to drive
<br />U.S. 34 in the deluge.
<br />Meteorologists said weather conditio
<br />that spawned the Big Thompson CauJ
<br />flood were similar to tbose generatin!
<br />1972 storm that killed 237 at Rapid C:
<br />S.D., and the storm last August that killed
<br />in Cheyenne.
<br />In all three instances, a thunderstorm ~
<br />gained intensity over the mountains I
<br />foothills was blocked from moving east
<br />easterly winds.
<br />
<br />"You had set UP what we could caU
<br />quasi-stationary storm, compared with I
<br />typical storm that moves east onto 1
<br />plains," said Charles Chappell, director
<br />the Weather Research Program for the I
<br />tioual Oceanic & Atmospheric Administ
<br />tion in Boulder.
<br />
<br />Colorado has spent $2 million buying u
<br />within the Big Thompson Canyon during I
<br />past 10 years, changing the landscape iJ
<br />one that contains far more open space tl
<br />at th!! time of the flood.
<br />
<br />The conference will continue today I
<br />tomorrow with sessions fOCUSing on the r
<br />of government in mitigating such disast
<br />and managing their.' effects, advances
<br />weather forecasting and techniques of dE
<br />ing with the psychological impact of .S\
<br />disasters.
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