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| peoples affected =
| peoples affected =
| missing = 6
| missing = 6
| damage = $40 million
| damage = <$150 million (2016 [[USD]])
| houses-destroyed = 418
| houses-destroyed = 418
| areas = [[Big Thompson River]], southeastern [[Colorado]]
| areas = [[Big Thompson River]], southeastern [[Colorado]]
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== Impact ==
== Impact ==
A portion of [[U.S. Route 34 in Colorado|U.S. Route 34]] was washed out by floodwaters,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anastasio |first=Jeff |date=October 9, 2023 |title=How the historic Big Thompson Canyon flood of 1976 unfolded on Denver7 News |url=https://www.denver7.com/about/70-years-of-denver7/how-the-historic-big-thompson-canyon-flood-of-1976-unfolded-on-denver7-news |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=[[KMGH]] |language=en}}</ref> sustaining significant damage as visibility on the highway dropped to zero miles.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2017 |title=Highway 34 To Reopen As Scheduled |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/highway-34-to-reopen-as-scheduled/ |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=[[CBS Colorado]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Vendegna |first=Michelle |date=August 1, 2016 |title=40 years after Big Thompson Flood: Memories remain decades after tragedy |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/01/40-years-after-big-thompson-flood/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[The Denver Post]] |place=[[Loveland Reporter-Herald]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The flood crest impacted most of [[Cedar Cove, Colorado|Cedar Cove]], [[Drake, Colorado|Drake]], and [[Midway, Colorado|Midway]], while extensive damage occurred to buildings in [[Glen Haven, Colorado|Glen Haven]].<ref name=":5" /> The floods caused more than $40 million in damage,<ref name=":6" /> including 418 homes, more than 400 vehicles, and 152 businesses being destroyed, along with a further 138 buildings damaged.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
A portion of [[U.S. Route 34 in Colorado|U.S. Route 34]] was washed out by floodwaters,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anastasio |first=Jeff |date=October 9, 2023 |title=How the historic Big Thompson Canyon flood of 1976 unfolded on Denver7 News |url=https://www.denver7.com/about/70-years-of-denver7/how-the-historic-big-thompson-canyon-flood-of-1976-unfolded-on-denver7-news |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=[[KMGH]] |language=en}}</ref> sustaining significant damage as visibility on the highway dropped to zero miles.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2017 |title=Highway 34 To Reopen As Scheduled |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/highway-34-to-reopen-as-scheduled/ |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=[[CBS Colorado]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Vendegna |first=Michelle |date=August 1, 2016 |title=40 years after Big Thompson Flood: Memories remain decades after tragedy |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/01/40-years-after-big-thompson-flood/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[The Denver Post]] |place=[[Loveland Reporter-Herald]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The flood crest impacted most of [[Cedar Cove, Colorado|Cedar Cove]], [[Drake, Colorado|Drake]], and [[Midway, Colorado|Midway]], while extensive damage occurred to buildings in [[Glen Haven, Colorado|Glen Haven]].<ref name=":5" /> The floods caused more than $40 million in damage in 1976 [[USD]], equivalent to nearly $150 million in 2016 USD,<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pohl |first=Jason |date=August 6, 2016 |title=40 years later: Scores killed in Big Thompson Flood |url=https://apnews.com/6d939fceba704b12ba5b5baad19d6b56 |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[Associated Press]] |language=en-US}}</ref> including 418 homes, more than 400 vehicles, and 152 businesses being destroyed, along with a further 138 buildings damaged.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />


== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==
On August 1, over 800 people were evacuated from flood-impacted areas via [[helicopter]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jarrett |first=Robert D. |last2=Costa |first2=John E. |date=2006 |title=1976 Big Thompson Flood, Colorado—Thirty Years Later |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3095/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[United States Geological Survey]]}}</ref> and U.S. Route 34 was reopened 86 days after it was closed after portions of the highway were washed out.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathews |first=Zane |date=March 21, 2023 |title=Remembering Colorado's Devastating Big Thompson Flood 1976 |url=https://kool1079.com/big-thompson-flood-1976/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[KBKL]] |language=en}}</ref> [[United States President]] [[Gerald Ford]] designated [[Larimer County, Colorado]] a disaster area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 31, 2014 |title=Big Thompson Flood Remembered 38 Years Later |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/big-thompson-flood-remembered-38-years-later/ |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=[[CBS Colorado]] |language=en-US}}</ref> After the flood, a ceremony was held every year to remember the flood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vendegna |first=Michelle |date=August 1, 2017 |title=Community gathers to remember 1976 Big Thompson flood |url=https://www.reporterherald.com/ci_31184398/community-gathers-remember-1976-big-thompson-flood/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[Loveland Reporter-Herald]] |language=en-US}}</ref> A memorial was constructed off U.S. Route 34, several miles from [[Drake, Colorado]], containing a list of people killed during the flood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=De Leon |first=Luis |date=July 31, 2021 |title=Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon Flood, 45 years later |url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/history/remembering-big-thompson-canyon-flood-45-years-later/73-7bf9f144-aabd-41c6-a75c-a307eb33ea46 |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[KUSA]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
On August 1, over 800 people were evacuated from flood-impacted areas via [[helicopter]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jarrett |first=Robert D. |last2=Costa |first2=John E. |date=2006 |title=1976 Big Thompson Flood, Colorado—Thirty Years Later |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3095/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[United States Geological Survey]]}}</ref> and U.S. Route 34 was reopened 86 days after it was closed after portions of the highway were washed out.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathews |first=Zane |date=March 21, 2023 |title=Remembering Colorado's Devastating Big Thompson Flood 1976 |url=https://kool1079.com/big-thompson-flood-1976/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[KBKL]] |language=en}}</ref> [[United States President]] [[Gerald Ford]] designated [[Larimer County, Colorado]] a disaster area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 31, 2014 |title=Big Thompson Flood Remembered 38 Years Later |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/big-thompson-flood-remembered-38-years-later/ |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=[[CBS Colorado]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2001, 25 years after the flood, a ceremony was held every year to remember the flood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vendegna |first=Michelle |date=August 1, 2017 |title=Community gathers to remember 1976 Big Thompson flood |url=https://www.reporterherald.com/ci_31184398/community-gathers-remember-1976-big-thompson-flood/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[Loveland Reporter-Herald]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McKee |first=Spencer |date=July 3, 2021 |title=Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon flood |url=https://gazette.com/denver-gazette/remembering-the-big-thompson-canyon-flood/article_6081df3a-dc26-11eb-a4b8-c37a6ce23a59.html |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[Colorado Springs Gazette]] |language=en}}</ref> A memorial was constructed off U.S. Route 34, several miles from [[Drake, Colorado]], containing a list of people killed during the flood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=De Leon |first=Luis |date=July 31, 2021 |title=Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon Flood, 45 years later |url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/history/remembering-big-thompson-canyon-flood-45-years-later/73-7bf9f144-aabd-41c6-a75c-a307eb33ea46 |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=[[KUSA]] |language=en-US}}</ref>


=== In popular culture ===
=== In popular culture ===

Revision as of 03:24, 19 January 2024

1976 Big Thompson River flood
A memorial containing a list of people killed in the flood
CauseHeavy rains
Meteorological history
DurationJuly 31, 1976
Flood
Overall effects
Fatalities145
Injuries250
Missing6
Damage<$150 million (2016 USD)
Areas affectedBig Thompson River, southeastern Colorado
Houses destroyed418

On July 31, 1976, a flood ensued at the Big Thompson River in Colorado, killing 145 people, injuring more than 250 others, and left six others missing.[1][2][3] The flood is one of the deadliest floods in the state's history.[4]

Background

The Big Thompson River is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 78 miles (126 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado.[5] Originating in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park, the river flows into Lake Estes in the town of Estes Park and then through Big Thompson Canyon.[6]

Before the floods, there were between 2,500 and 3,500 people at the Big Thompson Canyon, to celebrate 100 years after Colorado's became a state.[7][8]

Meteorological synopsis

On July 31, a thunderstorm complex developed alongside the Front Range of the southern Rocky Mountains, near Estes Park, Colorado.[8][9][10] The development was caused by a number of meteorological factors, including a shortwave trough, a polar front that moved across southeastern Colorado with the main polar airmass northeast of the Front Range, and moisture and unstable air behind a cold front extending across the Big Thompson Valley.[9] Upper-atmospheric light winds caused the thunderstorm complex to stay stationary, which produced heavy rainfall across portions of the Big Thompson Canyon, including up to 7.5 inches (19 cm) of rain falling in one hour.[8][11] Over four hours near Estes Park, 12–14 inches (30–36 cm) of rain fell, causing the Big Thompson River to overflow its banks and triggering a flood crest that moved through the river and the Big Thompson Canyon.[12][13][14] The flood crest moved at an average speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), and crested at 30 feet (9.1 m).[13][15]

A flash flood warning was issued at 23:00 Central Time (5:00 UTC), but was blamed after the warning's issuance was delayed as the flooding occurred several hours earlier.[16]

Impact

A portion of U.S. Route 34 was washed out by floodwaters,[17] sustaining significant damage as visibility on the highway dropped to zero miles.[18][19] The flood crest impacted most of Cedar Cove, Drake, and Midway, while extensive damage occurred to buildings in Glen Haven.[15] The floods caused more than $40 million in damage in 1976 USD, equivalent to nearly $150 million in 2016 USD,[14][20] including 418 homes, more than 400 vehicles, and 152 businesses being destroyed, along with a further 138 buildings damaged.[3][16]

Aftermath

On August 1, over 800 people were evacuated from flood-impacted areas via helicopter,[21] and U.S. Route 34 was reopened 86 days after it was closed after portions of the highway were washed out.[22] United States President Gerald Ford designated Larimer County, Colorado a disaster area.[23] In 2001, 25 years after the flood, a ceremony was held every year to remember the flood.[24][25] A memorial was constructed off U.S. Route 34, several miles from Drake, Colorado, containing a list of people killed during the flood.[26]

An episode of Colorado Experience premiered on PBS detailing the flood.[27][28]

References

  1. ^ Sallinger, Marc (August 10, 2023). "One of Colorado's deadliest disasters was 47 years ago". KUSA. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  2. ^ McKee, Spencer (July 2, 2021). "Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon flood, Colorado's deadliest natural disaster". Out There Colorado. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Spears, Chris (July 29, 2016). "Sunday Marks 40th Anniversary Of Big Thompson Flood". CBS Colorado. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  4. ^ "Remembering Big Thompson flood, 39 years later". KFMB-TV. July 29, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  5. ^ Taylor, Jack (May 30, 2018). "Remembering The Big Thompson Canyon Flood". KEKB (FM). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "Rocky Mountain National Park: Geologic Resource Evaluation Report" (PDF). National Park Service. pp. 5–6. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Whitley, Morgan (August 1, 2023). "Photos: 47 years ago, 144 died in one of Colorado's deadliest natural disasters". KDVR. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Floods in Colorado". National Weather Service. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Caracena, Fernando; Chappell, Charles F.; Hoxit, L. Ray; Maddox, Robert A. (January 1979). "Mesoanalysis of the Big Thompson Storm" (PDF). Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Laboratory. Retrieved January 17, 2024 – via NOAA.
  10. ^ "Colorado Remembers Victims 39 Years After Big Thompson Flood". CBS Colorado. July 31, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  11. ^ Jarrett, R. D.; Vandas, S. J. (July 2006). "1976 Big Thompson Flood, Colorado". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Crow & Albright 2021, p. 35.
  13. ^ a b McLain, Jerald F.; Shroba, R. R. (1979). "Storm and flood of July 31-August 1, 1976, in the Big Thompson River and Cache la Poudre River basins, Larimer and Weld Counties, Colorado". United States Geological Survey.
  14. ^ a b Persons, David (July 29, 2016). "Special report: Memories of '76 flood haven't dimmed for many". Estes Park Trail-Gazette. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Meissner, John (February 24, 2021). "100 YEARS MAGAZINE: 1976, 1982 floods wreaked havoc on Estes Park". Estes Park Trail-Gazette. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Garrison, Robert (July 31, 2022). "Remembering the 1976 Big Thompson Canyon flood". KMGH. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  17. ^ Anastasio, Jeff (October 9, 2023). "How the historic Big Thompson Canyon flood of 1976 unfolded on Denver7 News". KMGH. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  18. ^ "Highway 34 To Reopen As Scheduled". CBS Colorado. March 21, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  19. ^ Vendegna, Michelle (August 1, 2016). "40 years after Big Thompson Flood: Memories remain decades after tragedy". The Denver Post. Loveland Reporter-Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  20. ^ Pohl, Jason (August 6, 2016). "40 years later: Scores killed in Big Thompson Flood". Associated Press. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  21. ^ Jarrett, Robert D.; Costa, John E. (2006). "1976 Big Thompson Flood, Colorado—Thirty Years Later". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  22. ^ Mathews, Zane (March 21, 2023). "Remembering Colorado's Devastating Big Thompson Flood 1976". KBKL. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  23. ^ "Big Thompson Flood Remembered 38 Years Later". CBS Colorado. July 31, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  24. ^ Vendegna, Michelle (August 1, 2017). "Community gathers to remember 1976 Big Thompson flood". Loveland Reporter-Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  25. ^ McKee, Spencer (July 3, 2021). "Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon flood". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  26. ^ De Leon, Luis (July 31, 2021). "Remembering the Big Thompson Canyon Flood, 45 years later". KUSA. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  27. ^ ""Big Thompson Flood" And "The Stanley Hotel" Films At Historic Park Theatre". Estes Park News. September 27, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  28. ^ Colorado Experience | Big Thompson Flood | Season 4 | Episode 1 | PBS, retrieved 2024-01-18

Sources

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