Major flooding in Boulder County


You and your Family are in our prayers Tony, be safe.
 
Tony,

You and your neighbors should pitch in and hire a couple security guards. Neither the police nor federal officials are likely to object. Wishing you the best.

Paul
 
I would take the battery out and remove some fuses (fuel pump, injectors, etc) to ensure that car can't be started. Then try to make it as hard as possible to get the car towed from the garage.

Good suggestion. I was already going to disconnect battery (its on my to do list) since it could be 4/6 weeks and without power a d that means no battery tender and that probably means no gauges. After I get back ill put the charger on the battery to be sure it is topped off before restarting. Pulling a fuse or two is an excellent suggestion. Thanks for that
 
Good luck, and keep us posted on how you are!
 
The rain gauge here read 7.75 at the end of it on Friday. It's raining now with the same pace as before so expect the river to rise again

I was on the radio talk with mike brown (yes that mike brown from FEMA). He was our neighbor for about 4 years. While on the radio the producer came o. With the water stage stats for the gauge that was on the river about 1/2 mile west of the 36/66 junction. I'll post that if I can find it

We think most of our water came not from our own watershed but from button rock dam. When it went over the top they opened the floodgates and it is still running. They have to get the level down so it can take storms like we are getti g now. The watershed a ove button rock is huge and it is saturated
 
Mixed results today. At the town meeting the state hasn't changed much. Some people in town let alone remote areas are still isolated with the only out being a helicopter. Still on evac order. My wife left but I'm staying for at least one more day to better prep house for extended absence

Some rea electric customers east if town have had power restored so they are back to normal. Some even have to go through tow. To get to their property so cannot yet return. Some are o. The river that flooded to the west but because of their position on the inside of their bend did not get high water and so ce they are also on rea power are back to normal with well septic and power. One subdivision in town to the east has electric but still no sewer or water and all three is what is needed to return. It doesn't matter since the evac is still happening around us helicopters are everywhere. Huey's were e dry where and smaller ones (they called them Blackhawks but of that size) were landing on Main Street

My wife left today but I'm staying for a few more days. Rumors of looting continue. I'm blocking all ground level windows with paper. I don't know if that will slow them down by not being able to see or make them think there is something g worth hiding

Things were looking good yesterday. Crews are everywhere. Two of the local quarries are hauling scrap sandstone to help stabilize some of the bridges like the one next to me and rebuild the approaches to others. I know these guys personally and know that noone - town state fed FEMA - will ever see a bill for their truck time or materials. This is part of why I live in a small town

Then all hell broke loose. Starting at about 8:00 it started to rain and in earnest. Since I'm staying and we had stopped collecting water I resumed filling pails. I filled up the jetted tub of about 50 more gallons and have about 25 more in the pails on the porch. Rain water is pretty treatablewith a hot dose of chlorine and only and needs no filtering since roof goo like little rocks and nails stay on the bottom.

We got 1.25" new rain today (recall 7.75 at the end of the primary storm). Since button rock is at the top all water from the huge watershed is directly to the river so it is now back up about a foot maybe more since I looked at about 10:00. The result is that al work on stabilization and repairing approaches is suspended for now

Another thi g I don't remember if I mentioned yesterday. We've all been saying "xxx's house is gone." To most of us it means severely damaged beyond repair. Well there's a different meaning. Curt's house is also gone. But this "gone" is the other definition. Curts house is missing. The river has rechanneled in at least 4 places I can see. Curt's house was the victim of a widening of the riverbed. I estimate at least 100' of former stable bank is now riverbed

That's all I can think of right now. Maybe more later
 
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Hang in there, Tony :thumbsup

You'll make it!

(& people wonder how the Grand Cranyon got formed)
 
Tony
You are in our thoughts and prayers
My best regards
Ron
 
 
Let's hope that's the ONLY kind of story that comes out of Colo. from here on out...
 
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You have been in our thoughts and prayers. Please remain safe and dry.

Vince H
 
Not much has changed yesterday. There are may e 50-70 people left in town. I've been using a friends place who is outside of the town in boulder county but adjacent to the town limits. He in not on services so he is o. A well and septic system a d using a generator for elect. He is also on a complexly separate utility (city of Longmont). Last night just as the three of us were finishing dinner his power came back on so its operation as usual for him. But the town guards won't let him pass through. We're trying to get a pass so he can leave and return

I've been taking pi turds like crazy and have volunteered to be the official town photog. I have previous service with the town - town board of trustees and many years as chairman of the planning commission - and know many of the officials and am thinking of applying for a grant to document this

Have to run to a meeting
 
My Dad is up the road in Loveland and they had a lot of damage from the Thompson Canyon. Fortunately he lives on an elevated area, so the roads around him are washed out but he is fine. Quite a mess!
 
By the way I really liked how the spill chicken made pictures into "pi turds"
 
By the way I really liked how the spill chicken made pictures into "pi turds"

Spill chicken strikes again
 
My Dad is up the road in Loveland and they had a lot of damage from the Thompson Canyon. Fortunately he lives on an elevated area, so the roads around him are washed out but he is fine. Quite a mess!

Thank goodness. This really is a huge mess
 
Things are bad. Boulder Canyon is closed for at least a month. My canyon highway 72 is closed for many months. The road is simply gone in several places. The only route down for the entire front range foothills is down through Blackhawk into Golden. Its a huge mess out here. I have some water damage in the basement but my house is still here. Feel bad for all those that lost everything. This will be more to this disaster than people know at this point.
 
It's looking like at least 6-8 weeks before infrastructure can be in place for people to return. The biggest concern is waste water. And that is for those of us in the probably more than half of the town that had no flood damage. The rest will take much longer. There are parts of town south of the river that were also not damaged but it will take a while while they decide what to do with the rechanned river. In some places there are now three active channels. Then the infrastructure can be restored and bridges rebuilt

I heard that a great friend - an 87 year old teacher that served on Korea is likely a fatality.
 
It's looking like at least 6-8 weeks before infrastructure can be in place for people to return. The biggest concern is waste water. And that is for those of us in the probably more than half of the town that had no flood damage. The rest will take much longer. There are parts of town south of the river that were also not damaged but it will take a while while they decide what to do with the rechanned river. In some places there are now three active channels. Then the infrastructure can be restored and bridges rebuilt

I heard that a great friend - an 87 year old teacher that served on Korea is likely a fatality.

Oh boy. I can't even imagine. Glad you and your home came away mostly unscathed. Sorry for your loss:(