Saturday, September 14, 2013

Rain, Rain, Go Away!


It seems I've talked about the weather quite a bit since I moved to Colorado in January of this year, but when one is living through one hundred year flood conditions it is hard to resist this topic! It has been raining hard, almost constantly, the past few days, in a Monsoon pattern that has stalled over the entire Front Range. Areas that are located near rivers, creeks, gulches, reservoirs, lakes, and dams have been flooding from the tremendous amount of water that has fallen on them and caused them to breach their banks.  In some areas over 12 inches of rain has fallen in a very short time!

Fortunately, my area and the areas where my children live have had much lower rain accumulations. Thankfully, my basement sump pump has been turning on quite a bit during these storms and doing its job. We also do not live in close proximity to any of the waterways I described above, so we have not had massive flood waters flow into our community.


Having experienced the "once in a hundred years" appearance of  Hurricane Sandy, last fall in New York City, I never thought I'd also see epic rain and flooding conditions here in Colorado! Both times I was very blessed not to have to deal with a house or car damage, and my heart goes out to those who did, or are suffering now. If these were truly one hundred year events, and I hope they are, I take consolation that I will not live to see them again.


It is very sad that beautiful town of Boulder- a portion of the Boulder Pearl Street Mall is seen in the photos above, and ...


... the beautiful town of Estes Park, seen above, were both severely flooded, as well as many surrounding towns, such as Jamestown and Lyons.  Sadly, four people are known to have lost their lives in the flood waters as of today.



The video above was taken from a rooftop by a resident of Estes Park in early Friday morning as the flood waters were coming into the town.  My husband and I stayed in Estes Park last week, as it is located right outside the eastern entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, and it breaks our heart to think of the destruction of this pretty place.  I know they will clean up, rebuild what needs to be, and come back even stronger.  Estes Park has suffered two devastating floods in the past and did just that. I will be showing many photos of our trip to the magnificent Rocky Mountain Park in future posts


I know the stormy skies that are now overhead...


...will soon turn bright blue again, and all will be well.

Thank you to all who inquired about our safety!  I truly appreciate your concern, and my thoughts and prayers are with all those who suffered a loss of life and property in this disaster.


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21 comments:

The Gathering Place said...

I thought of you as I listened to the news tonight and they showed coverage of the flooding. What a devastating thing for the people involved. We are praying for relief, glad you are safe.

Lynn said...

Glad to hear that you and your family are all well Pat! I sure hope things calm down soon and the weather conditions return to normal-take care:@)

Old Kitty said...

Oh wow - just saw the news on BBC about the terrible flooding over there! :-( Looks utterly grim.

Glad you and your family are ok!! Fingers crossed the weather eases off! Take care
x

eileeninmd said...

HI Pat, I have been seeing the flooding on the national news. Very sad! I am glad you and your family are OK. My prayers go out to all the people effected by these floods. Take care and have a happy weekend!

Vee said...

This has just been a terrible weather system. A gal like you could feel pegged for all the rotten weather you've seen in the past year in two states! It feels as if the weather everywhere has been riled up. We are praying for Colorado!

From the Kitchen said...

I thought of you yesterday while listening to the news of Colorado. So glad to hear that you and your family are safe. Again, it is hard to hear about such devastation in yet another part of the country. Glad to hear from you today!!

Best,
Bonnie

Snap said...

too many 100 year episodes happening. so sad. i know all about what water can do living where i do. i'm sure these folks have no flood insurance. breaks my heart.

happy to know you and yours are on high ground.

ox

Nancy said...

Very happy to hear that you and your family are all safe. Our prayers are with those not so fortunate. We were in Tennessee, just north of Nashville, a few years ago in time for their "100 year" flood. We were one of the last to buy gas and leave the town we were in before flood waters completely closed it off. Had to take a northern route home as southern roads were all closed. It can be very frightening for sure.

Pamela Gordon said...

This flooding is so sad and devastating Pat. I'm glad you and your family are safe and not affected and pray for those who have lost so much. Hopefully the sun will come out soon. Blessings, Pam

pam said...

You were the only ones I thought of that I figured would be okay, considering where you live. All of our family managed to stay dry except where our youngest daughter lives. She is up by Boulder and there was just so much run off. The had some basement flooding but nothing too bad. I imagine when we come out next week we won't be going into the mountains. I saw many small highways and roads were washed out. They are going to have to work fast to get roads repaired before the snows. So sad for Boulder and Estes, they are beautiful towns. I imagine many people up in the mountains, who had homes on the rivers, now have a new landscape to their property. Thankful more lives were not lost. We know that part of the Colorado well and it is so beautiful. Praying strength to those facing clean up and rebuilding.

podso said...

I guess I haven't heard much news lately as I didn't know about this but thankful you are OK. The weather and the fires ... it's all been in abundance this year. For us, a bit of a drought suddenly. Stay safe and hopefully you'll dry out soon!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Very sad... Makes me cry thinking of those beautiful areas. We stayed in Longmont one year and drove through Jamestown and Lyons on our way to Estes Park and the National Park.... We also have been to Boulder... Just terrible.

Prayers for all.
Hugs,
Betsy

Ciao Chow Linda said...

Pat - I saw the terrifying photos on the news last night and was hoping you weren't affected. What a scary and tragic turn of nature.

Miss Jean said...

We were just up in Loveland, Longmont, Berthoud and Fort Lupton. It is just hard to wrap my mind around all the devastation I see on the news. We don't have any rivers or streams near us, although the Quincy Reservoir is down the street one way and the Aurora Reservoir is the other. I had a little water in my basement the other day and I have to keep telling myself to put it in perspective.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I'm glad you and your family are safe! This is so sad and devastating for these beautiful communities and the folks who live there. Take care!

Sarah said...

Sad when natural disasters take life and property. My heart goes out to those who have suffered from these recent floods. Thankful that you and your family are safe.

Willow said...

While I am thankful that you and your family are safe and dry, it is sad to see the destruction.

RNSANE said...

I am so happy to hear that you and your family did not suffer flood waters - but very sad that people you know lost their lives in this terrible tragedy.

Here in Mumbai, monsoon season is drawing to a close. We had no real catastrophes here but northern India,
Uttarakhand,thousands of people died.

Michelle said...

Glad to hear that you are safe and well!

Barbara said...

It has indeed been an interesting and tragic week along Colorado's Front Range. We, too, have been spared serious problems but are saddened for those who have not. This is very, very unusual for Colorado.

Little Wandering Wren said...

Wow - two one in a hundred year events first in New York and now in Colorado.

I can see why you return to the weather in your blogs I love to read more about what is going on, we get very little in the news here about this.

Take care and keep blogging!
Wrens