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_ Charleen and Bruce Prather stand with their furniture and belongings ~utside their mud. and water.logge~ The Denver PQstl Dominic: Ch.vu Buffalo Creek residence, which has been in the family since 1936. Buffalo Creek residents hope for water service by September . WATER from Page 1 B Twenty-four of the taps were for homes of year.round residents, with the remainder for summer homes, said Dave Rainey, the company's president. Buffalo Creek residents are hoping water will be restored by September. "I would not fool you. Water Service to Buffalo Creek will (be) restored by Aug. 31 - or sooner with luck," reads a sign posted at Green's Mercantile ';0. by Rainey_ In the meantime, they are getting wa- ter supplies from portable water tanks the county provided or had the option of walking to the association's springs, which weren't destroyed in the flooding. But o[ficials are concerned that the lack of running water for what could be months may result in health problems. Residents either have to walk to Coun- ty Road 126 to use Porta Potties brought in by the county, or use a neighbor's rus. tic outhouse. Homeowners said there is only about onE! outhouse for every five homes in the area. For the elderly retirees here, not hav. ing water in the bathroom can cause a hardship, Smith said. Those residents - some of them in their 80s ~ can't walk to the Porta Potties easily, so residents are helping lhem by bringing water to flush their toilets. "This is critical. We have got a serious health concern when we don't have wa- ter," Smith said. .. Residents measured more than 2.5 inches of rain in 45 minutes last FrIday, but an official damage estimate was not available yesterday. The Red Cross is working on an estimate, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide help with a more complete SQr- vey,'said Judy Peratt of Jeffco's Em~r- gency Management Department. Parts of Buffalo Creek are designated as a flood hazard zone, meaning that r~s- idents living in that zone are eligible for insurance under the National Flood In- surance Program. But those policies must be purchased before the flood event. For residents of the area wbo don't have flood insurance, financial assis- tance would have to come from the gov- ernment. But before funds can be made avail- able by the' federal agency, the governor must declare the area a disaster area - and an official damage i:' .'lunt must be calculated, Peratt said. Smith estimated the town's homes and other structures suffered $1 million in damages, The North Fork Fire Protec- tion District's destroyed ambulance should be covered by insurance. In the meantime, volunteers used the district's ambulance from the Pine station for a medical call Sunday. The deparlment's tanker truck Was ruined when the district's Buffalo Creek station was destroyed, but the remaining pumper truck. which was out of town for maintenance work when the flood hit. was moved to high ground above the creeks. Buffalo Creek residents with homes in Denver probably will return there in- stead of living without water, said Scott Melvin, and year-round residents who can may take a vacation. "They figure if they are roughing it, they might as well be enjoying it," Mel- vin said. Yesterday, a series of rains renewed anxiety of another flood. Since Friday, the. Denver Water De- partment increased chlorination of the water taken from the South Platte, which is fed by the Buffalo Creek area But black runoff from the flood didn't pose a health risk to Denver residents, said Trina McGuire, a spokeswoman for the Denver Water Department. McGuire said residents - particular- ly in south Denver - might notice the smell and taste of the additional chlo- rine. The flood was so intense that it tempo- rarily dammed the South Platte River, said Pam DeVore, South Platte District ranger for the U.S. Forest Service. Road crews rebuilt Coul1ty Road 126 to one lane yesterday, opening it to resi- dents and construction traffic only Sight-seers could be ticketed for enter- ing the area, said Jeffco Sheriff's De- partment spokesman Jim Parr. Denver Post Staff Writer Renate Ro- bey contributed to this report.