Monday, September 16, 2013

Floods Worst in Colorado History

We are having the worst floods in Colorado history, but to look out our windows and without television, radio, social media, etc. we would never know it.  

We live at 6400 feet here near Castle Rock, Colorado and have had hard rain, especially the previous five days, but no flooding and this morning we have blue skies, puffy clouds and emerald green lawns, trees with a few leaves turning yellow, but not the horrific scenes that we see on TV and the newspaper, (yes we still read the actual newspaper).  How can this be happening only 40 miles away from us?  During our fires earlier this year, which were south of us, the fires were about 40-50 miles in the opposite direction.

Quieter weather is forecast for the next few days, but the cleanup and assessment is beginning.  Here are the stats:  6 people are presumed dead and 1253 are unaccounted for; 19,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed.  The area of flooding is the size of Connecticut.  FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency) has personnel here; also search and rescue teams from neighboring states are here.  The rescue personnel are amazing, so many stories of bravery and heroism.  

One story that particularly touched me was this one from The Denver Post, 9/14/13:

"Hero cop gives guide dog the credit for saving man."

Ronnie Web, a seeing-impaired man was knocked over by flood waters while walking his dog on Friday, the 13th of September.  While a Denver police officer was patrolling the area near a drainage culvert,  he noticed a dog was paying particular attention to something in the water.  It was the dog's owner, Mr. Webb.  As the officer approached the scene, Mr. Webb screamed which caused the dog to jump into the water and then both were sucked in the drainage culvert.  But, Officer Del Creason, who grew up in the area knew where the drainage culvert surfaced.  Calling for help, Creason followed the culvert  and both the dog and his owner surfaced a few blocks down.  "He and the dog were in the tunnel for 17 minutes," the officer said.  "I'm sure that he used the dog to keep afloat."  Both owner and dog are fine.  Not all heroes have two legs.



 I am adding the following You Tube -- when you reach the 5 minute mark  there is a story about another hero who rescued many horses and other animals.  It must be heartbreaking to leave your animals behind to save your own life.

12 comments:

  1. Heartbreaking. I cannot imagine the panic and suffering so many are going through.

    Is always surprises me that the human race is at its very best when things are at there worst. Go figure.

    Take care.

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    1. Thanks Wendy for your visit all the way from New Zealand. And you are so right, perhaps we are not challenged enough in our daily lives so when an opportunity presents itself, we are ready.

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  2. That is one amazing dog. Dogs are smart and helpful.
    I hope that they get a break from rain so at least the rescue work goes on with a little ease.

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  3. Munir, dogs are amazing, but I am a dog person, cats, not so much. Wish I could help personally somehow, even wondered if I could foster some of the dogs (one or two) of the dogs who have lost their homes.

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  4. It is so hard to see so many people suffer, praying for the rain to ease and give them some respite. Great to hear the man and dog were alright. How have you been?

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  5. We are fine and very lucky, no flooding, no damage, and now the weather looks good. We do not live near a creek or river. Hard for us to do much except to donate to the Salvation Army and if we hear of someone or some family who especially need help, we would help. Still why them and not us. . . . ?

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  6. Glad you were okay. Yes, hard to figure how Mother Nature works in these disasters! Love the story about the horse rescuer!

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  7. They say that it is going to take a very long time to rebuild. I hope that there are enough funds.

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    1. Ah, that is always the question. Will there be enough money to rebuild -- probably not. But, the resilience of people is amazing. And I know there are innovative answers. You always think it will not happen to you. Thank you for stopping by.

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  8. Hi Tasha .. I'd heard how bad the floods are from Tina, who lives amongst them .. she is devastated - thankfully her family and friends seem to be ok - but the neighbourhood is shattered ...

    It's good to see you're doing your bit and are prepared to do more .. such tragedy - but your story of hope, yet the tale of sadness with the animals ..

    I'm having connectivity problems .. so haven't seen the You Tube video - I'll try another day ..

    Thanks for uploading and sharing the news ... Hilary

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    1. Will "visit" Tina and see how she is doing. They are calling it the 500 year flood here.

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