18 September, 2013

The Catastrophe In Colorado � The Dish

The Catastrophe In Colorado � The Dish: From Thursday-Friday, we got over 11 inches of rain – 9 inches in a 24-hour period. As a result, all of the roads in Boulder County leading into the mountains were washed out. Estes Park and Lyons were completely isolated because bridges had washed away. Longmont was cut in half by the St. Vrain creek, with nearly 6,000 households forced to evacuate. Many streets were closed in Boulder, and many remain closed nearly a week later.

And of course all that water must go somewhere, in this case the South Platte River. Over last weekend, every city and town along the river was flooded. In several towns, the wastewater treatment plants were beached, and as a consequence they now live in “no flush zones”: no water down any drain (including toilets of course), no washing dishes, no laundry.

Highway 34, which runs through Big Thompson River to Estes Park, had miles of the roadway completely destroyed. It will take months, maybe a year, to repair. Early reports note 1,500 homes destroyed, 17,500 damaged, and 12,000 people evacuated. Starting on Saturday, over 20 Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters started airlifting people out of the mountains.