HISTORIC MOUNTAIN FLOODING IN COLORADO AFTER A HOT,

DRY SUMMER MARKED BY DROUGHT AND WILDFIRES

SEPTEMBER, 15, 2013

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia,

USA 

RECORDS SET IN 1919 BROKEN AFTER WEEK-

LONG RAINFALL

BOULDER HIT ESPECIALLY HARD

BOULDER

Boulder, with a population of about 100,000, is located 25 miles (40 km) northwest of

Denver and sited at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of

5,430 feet (1,655 m).

IMMEDIATE IMPACTS

• WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES

• UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO CLOSED

• SCHOOLS CLOSED

• MUDSLIDES

• INUNDATION

• ISOLATED MTN. COMMUNITIES

• FOOD AND WATER DEPLETED

Miles from the Rocky Mountains, debris-filled rivers became

muddy seas that overflowed banks and extended into towns

and inundated farms

DEBRIS-FILLED RIVERS

CUMMULATIVE IMPACTS(To Date)

• $ 150 MILLION IN DAMAGES

• THOUSANDS EVACUATED

• COMMUNITIES ISOLATED

• NATIONAL GUARD ACTIVATED

• FEDERAL ASSISTANCE APPROVED

• 1,200 STRANDED

• AT LEAST 5 DEAD

FLOODWATERS: BOULDER, CO.

FLOODING

FLOODING

ROADS DESTROYED

MUDSLIDE: BOULDER, CO.

AIRLIFTING

CONTINUING RAINFALL EXACERBATES RESCUE

OPERATIONS