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<br />Fires started almost simultaneously with the levee <br /> <br /> <br />breaks due to the electrical system failure. "Burning piles of <br /> <br /> <br />timber from a blazing lumber yard drifted through the streets of <br /> <br /> <br />the city, lodging momentarily ~gainst frame buildings and setting <br /> <br /> <br />them on fire," according to the USGS Water Supply Paper No. 4B7. <br /> <br /> <br />The burning buildings were surrounded by floodwaters and the <br /> <br /> <br />water system Was incapacitated by the flood. Thus, it Was almOst <br /> <br /> <br />impossible to fight the fires 1lIhich finally burned out. <br /> <br /> <br />The flood was caused by "cloudbursts" in the foothill <br /> <br /> <br />region of the Arkansas River watershed in Colorado. The swift <br /> <br /> <br />rise, fall, and unprecedented, stage of the flood were remarkable <br /> <br /> <br />considering the small areal extent of the storm. The city received <br /> <br /> <br />3.09 inches of rain June 3 and 4 and, during the period June 2 <br /> <br /> <br />through June 5, 5.15 inches of rain fell. <br /> <br /> <br />The Arkansas River flood peaked at 103,000 cubic feet <br /> <br /> <br />per second, the largest discharge of reliable record at Pueblo. <br /> <br /> <br />Fountain Creek crested at 34,000 cubic feet par second a few hours <br /> <br /> <br />after the Arkansas River peak according to USGS records. <br /> <br />JYIay 30-31. 1935 <br /> <br /> <br />"Pueblo Flood Loss Greatest Since Disaster of 1921; <br /> <br /> <br />Officials Study Conservancy Plans," stated the Pueblo Chieftain <br /> <br /> <br />headlines. The paper also attributed at least a half million <br /> <br /> <br />dollars damage to the flood. The brunt of the damage was sustained <br /> <br /> <br />by the Colorado State Hospital Annex and the Platt Rogers Construc- <br /> <br /> <br />tion Company, both situated immediately north of town. The Missouri <br /> <br /> <br />Pacific Railroad bridge was also badly damaged. <br /> <br /> <br />The flood originated over less than 100 equare miles <br /> <br /> <br />of the Monument Creek watershed with as much as 7 or B inches of <br /> <br /> <br />rainfall within 24 hours reported at several points in the etorm <br /> <br /> <br />area. The discharge at the mouth of Fountain Creek was ~5,000 <br /> <br /> <br />cubic feet per second according to USGS records. <br /> <br />27 <br />