The Great Colorado Flood:What and Why it Happened & How You Can
Help
Where is Colorado?
Colorado’s Rivers
What is a Watershed? A watershed, also referred to as a
“drainage basin,” is an area of land from which rainfall and/or snowmelt drains into a stream or other water body.
Ridges of higher ground generally form the boundaries between watersheds.
At these boundaries, rain falling on one side flows toward the low point of one watershed, while rain falling on the other side of the boundary flows toward the low point of a different watershed.
Large watersheds are usually composed of several smaller “sub-sheds.”
St. Vrain (Creek)River• tributary of South Platte
River formed by the confluence of North and South St. Vrain creeks at Lyons
• 32.2 miles (51.8 km) long• drains part of the foothills
north of Boulder and the Colorado Piedmont area in the vicinity of Longmont
• joins the South Platte from the west
• St. Vrain Creek is joined by Left Hand Creek south of Longmont and Boulder Creek east of Longmont
CO’s History of Floods
• Arapaho warned the palefaces swarming into Colorado. After seeing the whites building in the dry bed of Cherry Creek, Chief Little Raven described for the newcomers how floods crashed down the creek unexpectedly.
• Denver's first deadly flood struck on the night of May 19, 1864.
• Nathan A. Baker "I looked out of the window and saw a wall of water six feet high rushing down the dry creek bed at terrific speed. Before we could escape from the building, the flood waters reached an embankment connecting the plant with the high shores of the creek. In a few seconds we were completely isolated, with raging water surrounding the building.“
• That 1864 flood killed 15 to 20 people and did an estimated $1 million worth of property damage.
Images from the Flood
My parents’ yard
Cleaning up our neighborhood
“Many hands make light work”
Why So Destructive? (Images)
Weather Patterns Gone Wild Counter-clockwise circulation pattern
over the western United States: Monsoonal flow not unusual in Colorado
during the heart of the summer; usually dissipates by late Labor Day; this year it has been on steroids
Add an anticyclonic circulation (clockwise) in the Midwest pushing water vapor into the Front Range region as well.
Two circulation patterns have come together in just the right way and just the right time to draw large amounts of water vapor into Colorado.
All of that water vapor pushed up against the Front Range (the easternmost extent of the Colorado Rockies) and has had trouble getting over it.
Additionally, stationary cold front moved in from the north also tended to keep the moisture pinned over CO.
“Rain, Rain, Everywhere…”Dr. Russ Schumacher, Assistant Professor of
Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University:“The main thing that occurred was just the huge
amount of rain over such a large area,""As meteorologists in Colorado, the events we
always think about are the Big Thompson flood of 1976 or the Fort Collins flood of 1997, and these are a lot of rain but over a very localized area.”
“The difference here is that the rain fell over entire counties essentially at that same amount of rain, so it's just an overwhelming amount of water for any of these creeks or streams to handle."
Before & After Flood$148 million to repair
damage in Longmont ALONE
2000 sq. miles of state damaged
8 deaths2000+ homes destroyed200+ miles of roadway
destroyed/damaged50 bridges impassible
How YOU Can Help!Current Plan = 2-5pm Sunday, Nov. 3rd
Two musicians are lined up to play:• Nate LaPointe• Jodie Landau
Hoping to have ice cream donated…
Support Westridge’s Great Colorado Flood Benefit Concert & Ice Cream Social:• Make flyers & post around campus• Educate your family and friends• Invite family and friends to the
event• Create educational presentation for
the event• Set-up and clean-up event• Help serve ice cream at the event• Perform poetry and/or music at the
event• OTHER IDEAS???
Where Should We Donate?Longmont Humane Society: www.longmonthumane.org
Kenneled over 230 animals during and after floods
OUR Center: www.ourcenter.org The OUR Center is especially in need of cash donations now and into
the future, as we will be providing assistance not only to existing OUR Center clients, but also to those who are turning to us for help as they await emergency assistance from other agencies and/or to those whose assistance runs out before they can get back on their feet. Particularly with rent and utility assistance, there are unmet needs before and after government assistance is available to flood survivors, and people look to the OUR Center to fill those gaps.
The Salvation Army: imsalvationarmy.org Help those affected during the days of storm ahead and during long-
term recovery. The Salvation Army uses 100 percent of your disaster donations in support of local disaster relief operations.