%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en September 2013 Floods http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/september-2013-floods <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">September 2013 Floods</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3298--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3298.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/2013-colorado-floods"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/September%202013%20Floods%20Media%201_0.jpg?itok=8LMrY2Vk" width="1090" height="726" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/2013-colorado-floods" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">2013 Colorado Floods </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Colorado residents who were evacuated due to flooding arrive at Boulder Municipal Airport in Boulder, September 13, 2013, after being rescued by National Guard and civilian rescue personnel. Colorado and Wyoming National Guard units were activated to provide assistance to people affected by massive flooding along Colorado's Front Range.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3300--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3300.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/jamestown-colorado-cut-2013-colorado-floods"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/September%202013%20Floods%20Media%202_0.jpg?itok=pv-S2fnN" width="1090" height="726" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/jamestown-colorado-cut-2013-colorado-floods" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Jamestown, Colorado Cut Off by 2013 Colorado Floods</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In September 2013, the small mountain town of Jamestown (population 300) was cut off by flooding in Boulder County.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--3302--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--3302.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/national-guard-soldiers"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/September%202013%20Floods%20Media%203_0.jpg?itok=rnpjxY6K" width="1090" height="724" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/national-guard-soldiers" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">National Guard Soldiers</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Soldiers with the Colorado National Guard respond to floods in Boulder County on September 12, 2013. The Colorado National Guard was activated to provide assistance to people affected by massive flooding along Colorado's Front Range.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2020-06-09T14:45:08-06:00" title="Tuesday, June 9, 2020 - 14:45" class="datetime">Tue, 06/09/2020 - 14:45</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/september-2013-floods" data-a2a-title="September 2013 Floods"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fseptember-2013-floods&amp;title=September%202013%20Floods"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>In September 2013, Colorado’s <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/front-range"><strong>Front Range</strong></a><strong>, </strong>from <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/fort-collins"><strong>Fort Collins</strong></a> south to <a href="/article/colorado-springs"><strong>Colorado Springs</strong></a>, experienced some of the most dramatic and devastating <a href="/article/flooding-colorado"><strong>flood</strong></a><a href="/article/flooding-colorado"><strong>s</strong> </a>in state history. In the hardest-hit areas, the rainfall beginning September 9 and ending September 16 matched or exceeded annual averages. Across the region, swollen creeks and rivers jumped their banks, destroying houses, bridges, and roads, and stranding individuals and communities. The floods ultimately killed eight people and caused more than $4 billion in damages across seventeen counties.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Between Mountain and Plain</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Along the Front Range, home to a majority of Colorado’s population, destructive flooding is not new. Centuries before the arrival of Anglo-American immigrants, American Indians seasonally hunted, foraged, and grazed horses along the nutrient-rich bottomlands of Colorado’s rivers and creeks. When whites arrived on the Front Range during the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> (1858–59), Native peoples warned of the region’s tendency to flood, but the newcomers often ignored these warnings—perhaps because they thought of the area as a “<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/%E2%80%9Cgreat-american-desert%E2%80%9D"><strong>Great American Desert</strong></a>.” They sought to overcome the region’s inconsistent rainfall by farming nutrient-rich, <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/irrigation-colorado"><strong>irrigable</strong></a> floodplains in such places as <a href="/article/greeley"><strong>Greeley</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/longmont"><strong>Longmont</strong></a>, and Fort Collins. Heavy snowmelt, powerful cloudbursts, and stalled storms, however, periodically punished such intrusions.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The area’s location as a transition zone between the rolling <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado%E2%80%99s-great-plains"><strong>Great Plains</strong></a> and the jagged peaks of the <a href="/article/rocky-mountains"><strong>Rockies</strong></a> explains the potential for extreme rains. During spring and summer months, moisture-rich air from the Gulf of Mexico comes across the Great Plains and abruptly runs into the Rocky Mountains. As the mountains push the moisture-rich air upward, storm clouds occasionally form and then rupture over the Eastern Slope of the Rockies. These downpours are usually highly localized, short, and intense, dumping inches of rain over a small area in a matter of hours. In the case of most deadly floods on the Front Range, such as the <strong>Big Thompson Flood of 1976</strong> and the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/spring-creek-flood-1997"><strong>Spring Creek Flood of 1997</strong></a>, heavy rainfall drained into creeks and rivers, overwhelming their carrying capacity and flooding cities and surrounding areas.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In some ways, the 2013 floods fit into similar Front Range flood patterns. As in 1976 and 1997, west-moving moisture coalesced into storm clouds, fell as rain, and overwhelmed east-running waterways. In other ways, 2013 was unique. The devastating fires of 2012, especially the <a href="/article/high-park-fire"><strong>High Park Fire</strong></a> west of Fort Collins and the <a href="/article/waldo-canyon-fire"><strong>Waldo Canyon Fire</strong></a> near Colorado Springs, cleared the landscape of vegetation that slows and absorbs excess water. Additionally, while cloudbursts were responsible for previous floods, the rainstorms that flooded the Front Range in September 2013 dumped rain not just over a few miles, but from Colorado Spring to Fort Collins, and the storms lasted not hours but days.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>From Merciful Rain to Raging Rivers</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The rain began across eastern Colorado on September 9, 2013, as a slow-moving, low-pressure system settled over the southwest, pulling moist air from the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico toward the Front Range. Rain was initially a welcome respite for the region’s residents, who had seen an unusually warm first week of September, a drought-plagued summer, and a series of recent <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/wildfire-colorado"><strong>forest fires</strong></a>. However, relief turned to worry as rain continued through September 10 and the low-pressure system stayed put, pulling more moisture toward the Front Range. With no immediate end in sight, the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings in <a href="/article/boulder-county"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/el-paso-county"><strong>El Paso</strong></a>, and <a href="/article/larimer-county"><strong>Larimer</strong></a> counties on September 11.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>On the night of September 11, torrential rainfall pounded the fire-scarred, oversaturated foothills. In Boulder, the <strong>University of Colorado</strong> began its first wave of evacuations and the city activated sirens along Boulder Creek, urging those in earshot to find higher ground. Throughout the night, rockslides, debris flows, and the surging St. Vrain, <strong>Big Thompson,</strong> and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cache-la-poudre-river"><strong>Cache la Poudre</strong></a> rivers destroyed sections of US Highway 34, US Highway 36, Colorado Highway 14, and numerous county roads, stranding many mountain and foothill communities. The unrelenting downpour continued through September 12, forcing thousands living along the floodplains from <strong>Estes Park</strong>, Fort Collins, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/downtown-loveland-historic-district"><strong>Loveland</strong></a>, south to <strong>Lyons</strong>, Boulder, and Jamestown, to evacuate.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When the rain briefly relented on September 13, army, national guard, and private helicopters began evacuating those stranded in mountain communities. After authorizing the use of <strong>Colorado National Guard</strong> helicopters in Boulder County the morning of the September 13, Governor <a href="/article/john-hickenlooper"><strong>John Hickenlooper</strong></a> signed an executive order declaring a disaster emergency across fourteen Front Range counties, providing resources for search-and-rescue operations and immediate highway repair. Through an emergency declaration on September 12, then a major disaster declaration two days later, President Barack Obama released federal funding to supplement the local and state response.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Overflowing waterways fueled by sustained precipitation also caused destruction east of the foothills. On the plains, floodwater rushing east forced evacuations, damaged agricultural land, overwhelmed wastewater facilities, and flooded oil wells. As in the foothills, swollen tributaries of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong>South Platte</strong></a><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/south-platte-river"><strong> River</strong></a>—along with the South Platte itself—wiped out bridges, undercut roads, and tore buildings off their foundations. In the early hours of September 13, the Big Thompson River spilled over and temporarily closed <strong>Interstate 25</strong>. Just hours later in Weld County, the South Platte and the Cache la Poudre Rivers began to flood low-lying neighborhoods in Evans and Greeley, forcing evacuations.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Farther east, in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/morgan-county"><strong>Morgan County</strong></a>, the surging South Platte, usually running two feet high in September, reached thirteen feet high on the evening of September 14, damaging infrastructure and forcing evacuations. By the time the storm finally relented on September 16, the week of rain—totaling twenty inches in Boulder, nine in Estes Park, six in Loveland, and six in Fort Collins—had reshaped natural areas and river channels all the way to the state border, destroying nearly 2,000 houses, damaging 28,000 dwellings, and killing 8 people. Pouring into western Nebraska, the South Platte remained at a moderate flood stage through September 23.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Aftermath</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>On Monday, September 16, as the storm cleared and helicopters continued to evacuate those stranded, students returned to classes at the University of Colorado. In the following days, grade schools in Larimer County reopened, road crews opened mountain roadways to flood-isolated towns, and response teams restored access to potable water and electricity from Evans to Estes Park. These steps toward recovery highlighted the resiliency of the afflicted communities and the experience and capability of responders, emergency planners, and disaster-relief crews. Decades of increasingly proactive zoning, modernized warning systems, and floodplain management helped minimize loss and streamline emergency response. Still, no town or city along the Front Range and the South Platte was fully prepared for that week of extreme rainfall, as illustrated by the expensive, prolonged recovery, the flooding of uninsured houses, and the tragic loss of life.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After sheriff’s offices accounted for missing persons, relief organizations provided shelter for the displaced, and road crews reached previously stranded communities, efforts shifted to long-term reconstruction. Relying on reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Highway Administration, federal block grants, and state disaster funds, the Front Range began multiyear road reconstruction and neighborhood redevelopment projects. Slowed by the complicated contracts and price vetting that came with federal assistance, some of the hardest-hit mountain roadways did not reopen until 2016. US Highway 34—connecting Loveland, Estes Park, and <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/rocky-mountain-national-park"><strong>Rocky Mountain National Park</strong></a>—did not reopen until 2018. When it did, the reconstructed highway exemplified the region-wide response to the flooding: it reopened within its traditional corridor, the Big Thompson Canyon, but now followed a slightly different path to minimize washouts in the event of another storm.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>With future flooding a primary concern, municipalities across the Front Range sought to rebuild in a manner that better prepared them for the next storm. Engineers designed roadways to better deflect and avoid floodwater, and city planners turned hard-hit, low-lying neighborhoods and mobile-home parks into greenspaces, sometimes to the detriment of those who relied on the now-vanished affordable housing. The enormity of the rainfall’s destruction, along with the difficulties that came with government shutdowns, accessing federal funds, congressional alterations to FEMA aid guidelines, and the varied needs of those affected by the floods ensured that the road to recovery was anything but straight.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Flooding in the Future</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Population growth, urban expansion, and increasingly volatile weather patterns associated with climate change mean that flooding will remain a pressing issue on the Front Range in the future. Scientists have not concluded that the abnormal rainfall from September 9 to 16, 2013, was the direct result of climate change, but aspects of the flood’s development—an abundance of moisture-rich air and increased storm volatility, both stemming from warmer temperatures—suggest that instances of heavy rainfall may increase across the region in the coming decades.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/purdy-tristan" hreflang="und">Purdy, Tristan</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/september-2013-floods" hreflang="en">september 2013 floods</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/front-range-floods" hreflang="en">front range floods</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/larimer-county" hreflang="en">larimer county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county" hreflang="en">boulder county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/weld-county" hreflang="en">weld county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/flooding-colorado" hreflang="en">flooding in colorado</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/flood-history" hreflang="en">flood history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/2013" hreflang="en">2013</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/loveland" hreflang="en">loveland</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder" hreflang="en">boulder</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/fort-collins" hreflang="en">fort collins</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/greeley" hreflang="en">greeley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/estes-park" hreflang="en">Estes Park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/longmont" hreflang="en">longmont</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>John Aguilar, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/09/colorado-floods-2013-recovery/">‘We're About to Wake Up’: Victims of Colorado's 2013 Flood Look to End of Recovery</a>,” <em>The</em> <em>Denver Post</em>, September 9, 2018.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Aguilar and Charlie Brennan, “<a href="https://www.dailycamera.com/2013/09/21/eight-days-1000-year-rain-100-year-flood/">Eight Days, 1,000-Year Rain, 100-Year Flood</a>,” <em>Daily Camera </em>(Boulder), September 21, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ruth M. Alexander, “<a href="https://mountainscholar.org/bitstream/handle/10217/167378/2013ColoradoFloodOralHistoryFinalReport.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y">2013 Northern Colorado Flood Oral History Project: Final Report</a>” (Fort Collins: Northern Colorado Flood Oral History Collection, Water Resources Archive, Colorado State University Libraries, 2015).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Kathleen A. Brosnan, <em>Uniting Mountain and Plain: Cities, Law, and Environmental Change Along the Front Range</em> (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Terri Cook, “<a href="https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/disaster-strikes-along-colorados-front-range">Disaster Strikes Along Colorado’s Front Range</a>,” <em>EARTH Magazine</em>, January 20, 2014.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Michael deYoanna, “<a href="https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2019/09/19/parked-mobile-home-dwellers-left-behind-after-2013-colorado-floods/">Parked: Mobile-Home Dwellers Left Behind After 2013 Colorado Floods</a>,” <em>Colorado Independent, </em>September 19, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Nolan J. Doesken, Roger A. Pielke, Sr., and Odilia A. P. Bliss, “<a href="https://climate.colostate.edu/climate_long.html">Climate of Colorado</a>,” Colorado Climate Center (Fort Collins: Colorado State University, 2003).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Dan England, “<a href="https://www.greeleytribune.com/2013/09/28/something-wicked-this-way-came-flood-brings-devastation-but-weld-endures/">Something Wicked This Way Came: Flood Brings Devastation but Weld Endures</a>,” <em>Greeley Tribune</em>, September 28, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Robert Follansbee and Leon R. Sawyer, <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/0997/report.pdf"><em>Floods in Colorado</em></a>, US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 997 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1948).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jenni Grubbs, “<a href="https://www.fortmorgantimes.com/2013/09/23/morgan-county-roads-bridges-see-damage-from-flood-2/">Morgan County Roads, Bridges See Damage From Flood</a>,” <em>Fort Morgan Times, </em>September 23, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Wallace R. Hansen, John Chronic, and John Matelock, <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1019/report.pdf"><em>Climatography of the Front Range Urban Corridor and Vicinity, Colorado</em></a><em>, </em>US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1019 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1978).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Sarah Hines, “<a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/science-application-integration/docs/science-you-can-use/2014-03.pdf">Our Relationship With a Dynamic Landscape: Understanding the 2013 Northern Colorado Flood</a>,” <em>Science You Can Use Bulletin</em> (March/April 2014).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Robert A. Kimbrough and Robert R. Holmes, Jr., <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20155119"><em>Flooding in the South Platte River and Fountain Creek Basins in Eastern Colorado, September 9–18, 2013</em></a><em>, </em>US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5119 (Virginia, 2015).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Danielle Langevin and Tessa Sullivan, “<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/spring-creek-flood-1997">Spring Creek Flood of 1997</a>,” <em>Colorado Encyclopedia</em>, last modified October 24, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Patricia N. Limerick and Jason Hanson, <em>A Ditch in Time: The City, the West and Wate</em>r (Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2012).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jacy Marmaduke, “<a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2019/05/03/big-thompson-flood-fema-hasnt-funded-road-bridge-repairs/3651296002/">6 Years After Big Thompson Flood, FEMA Hasn’t Paid Up: Lack of Reimbursement Has Delayed Road Repairs</a>,” <em>Coloradoan</em> (Fort Collins), May 6, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>National Weather Service, “<a href="https://www.weather.gov/lbf/southplatte_platte_flooding_2013#NebraskaFlooding">South Platte/Platte River Flooding of 2013</a>.”</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Office of the Governor, “<a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/archives/governor-hickenlooper-executive-orders">Executive Order D 2013-026 Declaring a Disaster Emergency Due to the Flooding in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, El Paso, Fremont, Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Pueblo, Washington, and Weld Counties (Front Range Flooding)</a>,” September 13, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Geoff Plumlee, “<a href="https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/when-water-gravity-and-geology-collide-firsthand-observations-impacts-2013-colorado-floods">When Water, Gravity and Geology Collide: Firsthand Observations of the Impacts of the 2013 Colorado floods</a>,” <em>EARTH Magazine, </em>January 21, 2014.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Katie Schimel, “<a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/47.17/how-2013s-front-range-floods-changed-the-face-of-the-region">How 2013’s Front Range Floods Changed the Face of the Region</a>,” <em>High Country News, </em>October 12, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://www.reporterherald.com/2018/09/08/the-2013-flood-a-timeline/">The 2013 Flood: A Timeline</a>,” <em>Loveland (CO) Reporter-Herald</em>, September 8, 2018.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Daniel Tyler, <em>Silver Fox of the Rockies: Delphus E. Carpenter and Western Water Compacts </em>(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Louis W. Uccellini, <a href="),%20https:/prd-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/atoms/files/NWS_CO_FSA.pdf"><em>The Record Front Range and Eastern Colorado Floods of September 11–17, 2013</em></a><em>,</em> US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Service Assessment (Silver Spring, MD, June 2014).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Department of Homeland Security, “<a href="https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/09/15/fema-continues-support-response-colorado-flooding">FEMA Continues to Support Response to Colorado Flooding</a>,” September 15, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Department of Homeland Security, “<a href="https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/09/12/president-obama-signs-colorado-emergency-declaration">President Obama Signs Colorado Emergency Declaration</a>,” September 12, 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Monte Whaley, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2014/09/13/flood-damaged-colorado-roads-are-getting-a-makeover/">Flood-Damaged Colorado Roads Are Getting a Makeover</a>,” <em>The</em> <em>Denver Post, </em>September 13, 2014.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Will Wright, “<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/flooding-colorado">Flooding in Colorado</a>,” <em>Colorado Encyclopedia,</em> last modified October 23, 2019.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>William Wyckoff, <em>Creating Colorado: The Making of a Western American Landscape, 1860–1940 </em>(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Robert Crifasi, <em>A Land Made From Water: Appropriation and the Evolution of Colorado's Landscape, Ditches, and Water Institutions </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2015).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Darla Sue Dollman, <em>Colorado’s Deadliest Floods </em>(Charleston, SC: History Press, 2017).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jared Orsi, <em>Hazardous Metropolis: Flooding and Urban Ecology in Los Angele</em>s (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ted Steinberg<em>, Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America</em> (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Tue, 09 Jun 2020 20:45:08 +0000 yongli 3272 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org