Wild animals... natural disasters? (Parker: tornado, hot , friend)

[suzco]

And then there was the Big Thompson. . .

In 1976, The Big Thompson Flood along Highway 34 between Loveland and Estes Park NOAA News Online (Story 688)

In two hours, the Big Thompson Canyon flood killed 145 people (including six who were never found), destroyed 418 houses and damaged another 138, destroyed 152 businesses and caused more than $40 million in damages.
An aftermath of the flood was adoption of numerous regulations that limit building along the Big Thompson River and other, similar rivers throughout the United States. The tragedy was also a major impetus nationwide for creating early warning systems for flash floods in mountainous cities and recreation areas.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

You weren't around in 1965 (I was), when Plum Creek went on a rampage right through the middle of town. I think that qualifies.

There was plenty of Platte debris in central Denver from that flood, as well.
The Denver metropolitan area suffered extensive damage. The flood zone represented 67 percent of the industrial area in the city. While the flood passed rather quickly on the night of June 16, the floodwaters were piled high with debris such as house trailers, lumber and large butane storage tanks. Many of the bridges in the downtown area became plugged with debris and were washed out when they could no longer withstand the pressure. Other bridges held, but sustained excessive erosion damage. The floodwaters left behind several feet of mud and debris all along the South Platte flood plain. In Denver, the cleanup job took several months and cost the city over $1 million.link

I was in Ft Collins for the Big Thompson flood. Really scary and really sad.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by cil

There was plenty of Platte debris in central Denver from that flood, as well.
The Denver metropolitan area suffered extensive damage. The flood zone represented 67 percent of the industrial area in the city. While the flood passed rather quickly on the night of June 16, the floodwaters were piled high with debris such as house trailers, lumber and large butane storage tanks. Many of the bridges in the downtown area became plugged with debris and were washed out when they could no longer withstand the pressure. Other bridges held, but sustained excessive erosion damage. The floodwaters left behind several feet of mud and debris all along the South Platte flood plain. In Denver, the cleanup job took several months and cost the city over $1 million.link

I was in Ft Collins for the Big Thompson flood. Really scary and really sad.

In the 1965 flood, I was in the flood area of Denver the next morning with my father. The high water mark was somewhere between 8 and 16 feet up the side of the Gates Rubber factory building on S. Santa Fe Drive--that street having been covered by many feet of water and still full of debris that next morning. Nearly every bridge from Littleton to Brighton on the South Platte was destroyed, with the exception of the dowtown viaducts. The photos shown of Castle Rock and Sedalia don't do justice to the destruction down there. Sedalia was nearly wiped out. Of course, there was a dam built on the South Platte to prevent another flood like 1965, but none was built on Plum Creek--so Castle Rock is still vulnerable for the next "big one," whenever that comes. And, of course, there's a whole lot more crap been built in that flood plain since 1965 . . .

[formercalifornian]

Thanks for the reminder about the Plum Creek Flood, Jazzlover. You're right that I wasn't around for it, but I have certainly seen the photos in the Miller Library's Historical Collection. Somehow it slipped my mind.

I live about 600 ft. higher than town. A Plum Creek flood would have to be of Biblical proportions to affect my neighborhood directly, but certainly the center of town would be in for a world of hurt, even with the new flood walls. I'm not certain about the Meadows or the Plum Creek subdivision down south of town.

We did have a bit of a flood scare earlier this year, when construction on the new middle school blocked a drainage pipe. Run-off from a strong spring storm backed up into our street, causing a slight panic when water rose to our neighbor's porch. I'd guess there was about 36" or so of standing water. Fortunately, the rain stopped shortly thereafter and city services cleared the construction debris, so it hasn't happened again. Mild as floods go, but it did get our attention.

Despite my egregious error in overlooking the '65 flood, my point for the OP was that Castle Rock is a pretty quiet place. The wildlife is here, but you'd be really lucky to catch a glimpse of anything other than an occasional deer. I've lived here about 18 months, and I have yet to see a rattlesnake, although three of my neighbors have found them in their lawns, and another had to chase one out of her garage. As far as natural disasters, there is some risk almost anywhere you live in this great country of ours, but as Jazzlover pointed out, you'd be smart to live a safe distance from the Plum Creek.

[POhdNcrzy]

A. re Plum Creek stories, thanks for the tales of yore guys, interesting reading. How about the reverse of a flood, i.e. drought, that is a real disaster as well. My story: Severe drought of 2002 in Colorado, remember that summer, lots of drought-related fires including the giant Hayman Fire near Denver. Boulder Creek was reduced to a trickle. Scariest thing I've ever seen. Never had I seen a major (albeit smallish) river just about run dry like that. The whole riverbed dried out and exposed, a normally 25 foot, 2 or 3 foot deep, river reduced to a trickle the width and depth of the palm of my hand. In areas where the water pooled and became stagnant there was a hideous brackish green foamy scum on the surface and there was a gastly spectre of death and decay about the whole event. During that year for some reason Jim Morrison's song "The End" kept playing in my head. Remember those lines? "Lost in a roman wilderness of pain, and all the children are insane, waiting for the summer rain" Is that song about some kind of global warming apocalypse or what? I bet Al Gore knows where Mr. Mojo Risin' is hidin' out !

B. Colorado mountain lions "attacking joggers"? NOT. Only a 5-year old jogger maybe. The mountain lions in Colorado will see you and hear you coming a mile away, they may stick around and watch you pass by, you won't see them, anyway, they are not gonna attack a human other than a toddler. We are not in their target prey category (too large). Nuf said.

C. Coyotes in LA?? Yup. Been there, heard 'em howling late at night in the Hollywood Hills (Beachwood Canyon drive).

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by POhdNcrzy

B. Colorado mountain lions "attacking joggers"? NOT. Only a 5-year old jogger maybe. The mountain lions in Colorado will see you and hear you coming a mile away, they may stick around and watch you pass by, you won't see them, anyway, they are not gonna attack a human other than a toddler. We are not in their target prey category (too large). Nuf said.

In Colorado's first 100 years of statehood, there were no human deaths attributed to cougars in Colorado. Then, in 1991, a mountain lion killed Scott Lancaster, 18, while he was jogging near his high school in Idaho Springs. In 1997, 10-year-old Mark Miedema of Lakewood fatally encountered a lion while running on a trail in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Colorado Division of Wildlife
Fatal mountain lion attacks
Description of puma
I'd be more worried about being struck by lightning than getting wasted by a mountain lion. But such tragedies have indeed happened.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by POhdNcrzy

A. re Plum Creek stories, thanks for the tales of yore guys, interesting reading. How about the reverse of a flood, i.e. drought, that is a real disaster as well. My story: Severe drought of 2002 in Colorado, remember that summer, lots of drought-related fires including the giant Hayman Fire near Denver. Boulder Creek was reduced to a trickle. Scariest thing I've ever seen. Never had I seen a major (albeit smallish) river just about run dry like that. The whole riverbed dried out and exposed, a normally 25 foot, 2 or 3 foot deep, river reduced to a trickle the width and depth of the palm of my hand. In areas where the water pooled and became stagnant there was a hideous brackish green foamy scum on the surface and there was a gastly spectre of death and decay about the whole event. During that year for some reason Jim Morrison's song "The End" kept playing in my head. Remember those lines? "Lost in a roman wilderness of pain, and all the children are insane, waiting for the summer rain" Is that song about some kind of global warming apocalypse or what? I bet Al Gore knows where Mr. Mojo Risin' is hidin' out !

B. Colorado mountain lions "attacking joggers"? NOT. Only a 5-year old jogger maybe. The mountain lions in Colorado will see you and hear you coming a mile away, they may stick around and watch you pass by, you won't see them, anyway, they are not gonna attack a human other than a toddler. We are not in their target prey category (too large). Nuf said.

C. Coyotes in LA?? Yup. Been there, heard 'em howling late at night in the Hollywood Hills (Beachwood Canyon drive).

Amen. Drought--and we appear to be in long-term one--is the real danger in Colorado and the West--especially since our population is growing beyond the limits of what water resources can comfortably supply. Floods--albeit destructive as they can be--are generally a more localized event in Colorado. Droughts often affects the whole state. What is sad is how utterly clueless so many of Colorado's increasingly urban and suburbanized residents are about the climate, natural history, and environment of the place they live. There is a real detachment all across America between people and the natural world that is their home. This is one of those cases where ignorance will not be bliss.

[DOUBLE H]

I lived in Englewood at the time of the flood. Every bridge was knocked out from Bowles Avenue to Mississippi. We lived on south Lipan. The sky that afternoon was black and you could hear the crest from our house close to Windermere st. I can't go into enough detail the hell it caused. The worst part was the trailor parks down west of Santa Fe Drive. Days later they found those trailors, furniture, debris, all the way to Fort Morgan and even beyond that. A very ugly event.

[Wyomiles]

I am more worried about a fire than anything else. Have you seen the beetle kills up in those hills. I hope that doesn't catch fire or we will really see a natural disaster !

[marie_co]

What natural diasters have you heard occur in Colorado?

I guess there are some tornadoes every now and again but nothing like OK or KS. I used to have to catch the bus real early in the morning when it was still dark outside in Evergreen. I never was attacked by a mountain lion or bear or anything else. It's rare for an animal to actually attack a human being I wouldn't worry about it at all.