Front Range Colorado flooding

I have posted a link to an image (can't figure out how to copy and paste it) of one of the small 'rivers' on the Front Range that I prefer to fish. It really doesn't qualify for the moniker 'river' but 'creek' might be doing it a bit of disservice as well. The river is usually quite tranquil. You can gauge what the typical size of the river is by the two lines of trees on the right. They frame the river's normal channel and even then, it is about 3 times as full as you'd ordinarily see it during run-off in the late spring/early summer seasons, Anyway, I won't be going back up there to fish anytime soon.

http://photos.denverpost.com/2013/09/12/photos-massive-flash-flooding-along-front-range-of-colorado/#25

Sorry but I discovered the Denver Post is adding more photos. When I first clicked on the link it was originally photo #25 in a long line. Last I checked as of 10 a.m. Mountain Time it was photo 26 and I suspect they'll be adding a lot more photos as the day wears on. So you may have to scroll through to find it. The caption to the photo reads,

26 of 197
Hwy 7 is completely blown out from the South St. Vrain river as a torrent of raging water rips through it about 12 miles west of Lyons, CO. along Highway 7 on September 12, 2013. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post)

Truly a disastrous event... our youngest son and I love to fish the St Vrain when I can make it out to visit with him. Not much can be said other than our prayers are with you all out there.
Bob
Michigan

It is raining again today. We normally average 1.6" of rain for the month of September. Today's rain will bring us close to 18" since Monday. It is truly a freak storm!

I wonder what is happening to the trout during this horrible event. Are they being washed downstream, suffocated by the silt or just holding in the slower water, suffering but surviving?

cycler, the answer to your question is yes. Many get washed downstream, some will get caught up in mud flows and some will manage to hug the bottom and survive. They have been doing that for thousands of years, no matter where they first came from. Larry ---sagefisher---

Front range flood was a WHOPPER ! Gonna cost a billion $ to fix this go around. Bugs and fish will make it but the wallet's up for a serious withdrawal. Stay tuned...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sagefisher

cycler, the answer to your question is yes. Many get washed downstream, some will get caught up in mud flows and some will manage to hug the bottom and survive. They have been doing that for thousands of years, no matter where they first came from. Larry ---sagefisher---

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Thanks for the reply sagefisher, I kinda thought the trout employed multiple statagies for surviving, or dying as the case may be. When the floods subside I'll be interested in seeing how the trout streams have changed. When I was a sophomore in high school our area had a 12 inch rain one night. A creek that flowed about 1/2 mile from our farmhouse suddenly became a raging monster over a mile wide in places destroying bridges, railroad tracks, roads and everything else in its path. I was amazed at how much the channel changed when I went down to look at it several days later.

On my last trip to Colorado things were really on the "dry" side.
Wow, what a disaster ... and in a very short period of time!

Thanks for posting the reference site for the pics.

Here is how the trout streams of Vermont responded after their severe flooding:

http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishin...er-the-Floods/

Boulder published rain totals yesterday, over 20" of rain fell on the City of Boulde in a 5 day period. Surrounding counties in the Front Range also got 8"-10. The scale and scope of the disaster is hard to believe. There are entire towns that may not have vehicle access until next spring.

The town of Lyons got hit very hard. The fishing community might be familiar with this place name, it is the home town of author John Gereich, fly tying master A.K. Best and bamboo rod builder Mike Clark. All roads and highways into town were wiped out, no access other than by foot or helicopter. They are still evacuating folks via chinook helicopter and horse back. At last count 108 of the 499 homes in Lyons are destroyed, another 49 heavily damaged. The towns water treatment plant, sewage plant and only grocery store were also lost to the floods. No food, water, electricity or toilets in a town of over 5000 persons.
Attachment 12239 This is whats left of hwy 7 entering Lyons from the Boulder.
Attachment 12241 Here is the St Vrain river showing the normal flow in September. Same location, but viwed from the other direction.

Keep us in your prayers. 4 days later this wall of water is still wiping out bits of Colorado as it flows downsteam.

The front range gets all the publicity, but don't forget that the South Platte runs all the way East to Nebraska. It flooded us at Fort Morgan and is currently flooding Sterling and sedgewick. Have a look at the Colorado map ! This disaster will take years and Trillions of Dollars to recover from. Upstream, Estes Park, Jamestown,Drake and Glenhaven were absoloutely devastated as was Longmont,Evans and Greeley, and it goes on and on and on!