The rains in Colorado started off as a simple shower but grew bigger and stronger. This rainfall continued for almost 5 days producing a total of 14.62 inches of rain. The normal rainfall for the month of September is 1.63 inches. All this water created flash flooding in Colorado and resulting in major damage and lives lost. These flood waters would be flowing into Nebraska soon. Preparations needed to be made. The South Platte River would take the majority of the water but there are no flood protection systems such as levees or reservoirs along this river. Therefore, local officials needed to focus on protecting critical infrastructures, leaving residents to take responsibility for their own property. The infrastructures that needed protection included wastewater treatment plants, sewer lift stations, telecommunications equipment and water supplies. They used emergency dikes and sandbags to protect these structures. Residents also took action to protect their possessions, land and livestock by moving what they could to higher ground and sandbagging their homes. More than 160,000 sandbags were distributed to the three counties that would be most affected by the flood waters. As a result of preparing for the worst, there was minimal damage and no lives lost due to this flooding. However, there were many flooding records broke as a result of this event. In North Platte the river crested at 14.32 feet breaking the old record of 14 feet. In Brady, NE a new record was set at 10.2 feet with the old record being 9.6 feet. Also, a new record for Roscoe, NE was set when the river crested at 12.5 feet. This event did cause flooding and damage to a large amount of farmland creating problems for local farmers and ranchers. As a result of this event, Authorities are better prepared and can make any needed changes to their emergency response plan in the event of another flood. The rains in Colorado started off as a simple shower but grew bigger and stronger. This rainfall continued for almost 5 days producing a total of 14.62 inches of rain. The normal rainfall for the month of September is 1.63 inches. All this water created flash flooding in Colorado and resulting in major damage and lives lost. These flood waters would be flowing into Nebraska soon. Preparations needed to be made. The South Platte River would take the majority of the water but there are no flood protection systems such as levees or reservoirs along this river. Therefore, local officials needed to focus on protecting critical infrastructures, leaving residents to take responsibility for their own property. The infrastructures that needed protection included wastewater treatment plants, sewer lift stations, telecommunications equipment and water supplies. They used emergency dikes and sandbags to protect these structures. Residents also took action to protect their possessions, land and livestock by moving what they could to higher ground and sandbagging their homes. More than 160,000 sandbags were distributed to the three counties that would be most affected by the flood waters. As a result of preparing for the worst, there was minimal damage and no lives lost due to this flooding. However, there were many flooding records broke as a result of this event. In North Platte the river crested at 14.32 feet breaking the old record of 14 feet. In Brady, NE a new record was set at 10.2 feet with the old record being 9.6 feet. Also, a new record for Roscoe, NE was set when the river crested at 12.5 feet. This event did cause flooding and damage to a large amount of farmland creating problems for local farmers and ranchers. As a result of this event, Authorities are better prepared and can make any needed changes to their emergency response plan in the event of another flood.
– Payden M.
