FRIDAY
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September 13, 2013
www.coloradoan.com
RIVERS RAGE Officials investigate the scene of a road collapse at U.S. Highway 287 and Dillon Road at the Broomfield/Lafayette border. The collapse sent three vehicles into the water Thursday. CLIFF GRASSMICK / AP
Roiling water tossed boulders down the Big Thompson Canyon, stirring memories of one of the state’s deadliest days. Wary eyes watched the Poudre River creep up its banks in Fort Collins. And three lives were swept away as disaster tore across the Front Range. On Friday, Colorado resumes the monthslong process of reconnecting to mountain communities severed from its core by the rivers’ wrath.
NORTHERN COLORADO DISASTER RECOVERY
COLORADO DELUGED BY RAIN
Highway repair may take months, millions
Northern Colorado closures » Page A4
Associated Press
PSD Eco Week students stranded in mountains » Page A5
RyanHandy@coloradoan.com
See REPAIR, Page A6
By P. Solomon Banda
A look back at the Big Thompson flood that killed 144 people in 1976 » Page A4
By Ryan Maye Handy
The deluge that hit Northern Colorado on Thursday will dissipate to scattered showers Friday and Saturday, but the damage wrought by flash-flood waters to three key Larimer County highways could take weeks, if not months, to repair. The worst of the rain, which filled rain gauges around Larimer County with 4 to 6 inches of water in just one day, came and went by Thursday evening. Northern Colorado will have a respite until Sunday, when meteorologists expect another potential dump of heavy, flash flood-inducing rain. But as Friday dawns, U.S. Highways 34 and 36, and Colorado Highway 14 through the Poudre Canyon, remained closed indefinitely. Colorado Department of Transportation officials have limited ideas of how much damage water, mud and rock did to those roads Thursday. CDOT had no estimated time for reopening the roads as of Thursday night. Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith could only guess if homes in the western foothills have been swept away — a guess he can’t confirm until flood danger ceases and his deputies can check on
FLOODING CUTS OFF MOUNTAIN TOWNS, KILLS 3; 1 MISSING
A timeline of the flooding » Page A7
LYONS — Heavy rains sent walls of water crashing down Colorado mountainsides Thursday, cutting off remote towns, forcing the state’s largest university to close and leaving at least three people dead across a rugged landscape that included areas blackened by recent wildfires. After a rainy week, up to 8 more inches fell in an area spanning from the Wyoming border south to the foothills west of Denver. Flooding extended all along the Front Range mountains and into some cities, including Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Aurora and Boulder.
See FLOODING, Page A2
INSIDE
Pam Scinto, left, and Del Blumhardt of Bellvue walk their poodle mix, Oscar, on Thursday on Larimer County Road 23 as a truck turns around behind them not wanting to cross Mill Creek. At top, water rushes on U.S. Highway 34 at the Dam Store. PHOTOS BY (ABOVE) V. RICHARD HARO/THE COLORADOAN AND (AT TOP) COURTESY OF COLORADO STATE PATROL LARIMER VIA TWITTER
EXPANDED COVERAGE ONLINE Visit Coloradoan.com for expanded coverage, including: Photo galleries: From newspapers, television stations and social media, view dozens of photos from around the state showing the impact of the storm. Road closure map: View and zoom in on our interactive map to see the status
of area roads and plan safe routes around water-damaged roads. Video coverage from around Colorado: Whether it’s local video showing Poudre Canyon damage or packages from our 9NEWS partners, we’ll be there with coverage of the ongoing flood, and we’ll be there to help in the aftermath.
72/54 Showers, isolated storm » C10 Business
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