And he'll never forget holding a loved one's body in his arms before the water whooshed him away, too. Now, debris is caught and piling against the up-river side of the bridge and, as the pressure mounts, she breaks free from her moorings to crumple forward, groaning, steel cables parting to whip as the structure kneels to the flood. For years afterwards, I thought I’d had a nightmare the night of the flood. At first she watches, her sense of helpless horror growing, then she turns away, unable to continue as witness. Trees and boulders roll in it, the largest of the latter measuring 12’×12’×23’ and weighing around 275 tons. The following video from some of the flood’s survivors is a tribute to God’s faithfulness. Here, homes and property are family keepsakes, written down in wills. Continued: A Flood of Memories – Part 2 – The Big Thompson Flood of 1976, Tags: Big Thompson Canyon, Big Thompson Flood 1976, Colorado, Dam Store, Loveland, Loveland Big Dam, Loveland Small Dam. Below the surface, he could see the beam of light cutting through muddy darkness. Because of this and despite growing up thinking of it as a river, the idea of it ever flooding never occurred to me. Ealy quipped about how Jerry should have kept it hooked to the truck. DeWitt held his radio in one hand and a heavy-duty flashlight, the kind firefighters take into smoky houses, in the other. DeWitt parked his Toyota Tacoma in front of a gaping hole in County Road 43 and got out. © 2020 www.coloradoan.com. The Town Hall was lifted off its foundation and shoved 20 feet into the Glen Haven General Store. FROM THE ARCHIVES: A look back at Coloradoan's coverage of the 1976 flood, His girlfriend and her mother had jumped on a mattress when the water started shaking the home, knocking things from the ceiling and carrying the residence nearly 300 yards downstream in an experience the women said was like "riding a wild bull.". If you live in a tornado zone or a hurricane zone, what are you going to do? Jerry dreamed he was sitting at the bay window of his white-walled home, watching the water inch higher from the campground and lap against the house. “We’ve got good people,” said Tom Housewright, 50, the manager of the Ace Hardware store in Estes Park. was probably on. The swift-water rescue training DeWitt had received kicked in. 2018: The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011, H.R. But there's always that chance. “People associate coming up here with peacefulness, with relaxation, with the beauty of the place. Another spilled down the mountain onto a dome rock. There was no cell service, no contact with the outside world. […] (continued from: A Flood of Memories – Part 1 The Big Thompson Flood of 1976) […], […] 1: A Flood of Memories – Part 1 The Big Thompson Flood of 1976 Part 2: A Flood of Memories – Part 2 The Big Thompson Flood of […]. His John Denver album had a watermark across the bottom and sand in the grooves. It hadn’t rained a drop. This entry was posted Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. “We honestly did not feel threatened with death. I just forced myself up as hard as I could. A crack in the living room wall is a constant reminder — a reminder about the financial hardship, the sheer luck, and the banding together of the community that so often follows times of disaster. In short order, this massive wall of water is adding cars, buildings, and people to its merciless grinder. The first I saw was of a woman who we guessed was 18, not much younger than I was then. From the darkness emerged a figure, dripping and confused. Read more in the Coloradoan's series about the details of the Big Thompson Flood, the aftermath and a look back at the news coverage 40 years ago. Was the driver in there? Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Also, because of the flood, several others, such as Vonette Bright, were unaccounted for during about 24 hours. The biggest infrastructure casualty, however, was the City of Loveland's hydroelectric plant (rebuilt after the 1976 flood); the Idylwilde Reservoir was completely fill… I was going up and down that mountain, making trails, signs for neighbors, jacking up the cabin, dragging out rugs, getting mud out of them. “Fire departments, this is what we’re here for. 5892: Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2012, H.R. The tragedy claimed the lives of 144 people. The canyons, foothills, and valley of Chasteen’s are the ones I grew up on and rambled over. It is one of several destructive floods in the United States that has shown the necessity of conducting research to determine the causes and effects of floods.

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