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== Background == |
== Background == |
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Spring Creek is a {{convert|12.7|mi|km|-long|adj=mid}}<ref name="NHD">U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329155652/http://u.s./|date=2012-03-29}}, accessed March 25, 2011</ref> tributary of the [[Cache La Poudre River]] in the state of [[Colorado]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=":3" /> It begins at Spring Canyon Dam, and flows into [[Horsetooth Reservoir]], and through Fort Collins.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spring Creek |url=https://www.fcgov.com/utilities/what-we-do/stormwater/drainage-basins/spring-creek-basin |access-date=January 23, 2024 |website=City of Fort Collins |language=en-US}}</ref> Before the floods, moist atmospheric conditions occurred due to an unusual strong flow of monsoon moisture, despite the area experiencing drought conditions for six weeks.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Ogden |first=F. L. |last2=Sharif |first2=H. O. |last3=Senarath |first3=S. U. S. |last4=Smith |first4=J. A. |last5=Baeck |first5=M. L. |last6=Richardson |first6=J. R. |date=February 21, 2000 |title=Hydrologic analysis of the Fort Collins, Colorado, flash flood of 1997 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169400001463 |journal=[[Journal of Hydrology]] |volume=228 |issue=1 |pages=82–100 |doi=10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00146-3 |issn=0022-1694}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Candelario |first=Haley |date=July 27, 2017 |title=Fort Collins looks back 20 years after Spring Creek flood |url=https://collegian.com/articles/news/2017/07/fort-collins-looks-back-20-years-after-spring-creek-flood/ |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=[[The Rocky Mountain Collegian]]}}</ref> A mitigation plan was also implemented prior to the floods, which cost $5 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 11, 2021 |title=On Top of the Game in Floodplain Management |url=https://www.fema.gov/case-study/top-game-floodplain-management |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=[[FEMA]] |language=en}}</ref> |
Spring Creek is a {{convert|12.7|mi|km|-long|adj=mid}}<ref name="NHD">U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329155652/http://u.s./|date=2012-03-29}}, accessed March 25, 2011</ref> tributary of the [[Cache La Poudre River]] in the state of [[Colorado]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=":3" /> It begins at Spring Canyon Dam, and flows into [[Horsetooth Reservoir]], and through Fort Collins.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spring Creek |url=https://www.fcgov.com/utilities/what-we-do/stormwater/drainage-basins/spring-creek-basin |access-date=January 23, 2024 |website=City of Fort Collins |language=en-US}}</ref> Before the floods, moist atmospheric conditions occurred due to an unusual strong flow of monsoon moisture, despite the area experiencing drought conditions for six weeks.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Ogden |first=F. L. |last2=Sharif |first2=H. O. |last3=Senarath |first3=S. U. S. |last4=Smith |first4=J. A. |last5=Baeck |first5=M. L. |last6=Richardson |first6=J. R. |date=February 21, 2000 |title=Hydrologic analysis of the Fort Collins, Colorado, flash flood of 1997 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169400001463 |journal=[[Journal of Hydrology]] |volume=228 |issue=1 |pages=82–100 |doi=10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00146-3 |issn=0022-1694}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Candelario |first=Haley |date=July 27, 2017 |title=Fort Collins looks back 20 years after Spring Creek flood |url=https://collegian.com/articles/news/2017/07/fort-collins-looks-back-20-years-after-spring-creek-flood/ |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=[[The Rocky Mountain Collegian]]}}</ref> A mitigation plan was also implemented prior to the floods, which cost $5 million.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=February 11, 2021 |title=On Top of the Game in Floodplain Management |url=https://www.fema.gov/case-study/top-game-floodplain-management |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=[[FEMA]] |language=en}}</ref> |
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== Meteorological synopsis == |
== Meteorological synopsis == |
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== Aftermath == |
== Aftermath == |
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A documentary film was made detailing the flood and the reconstruction after the disaster.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dodge |first=Jeff |date=March 28, 2020 |title=Reel CSU Stories: The campus flood of 1997 |url=https://source.colostate.edu/reel-csu-stories-the-campus-flood-of-1997/ |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=[[Colorado State University]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Manning |first=Anne |date=July 26, 2017 |title=Record rain, record flood: A timeline of the July 1997 flood |url=https://source.colostate.edu/record-rain-record-flood-timeline-july-1997-fort-collins-flood/ |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=[[Colorado State University]]}}</ref> A high water marker was erected at Colorado State University designating the water level during the flood at Spring Creek.<ref name=":4" /> |
After the flood, 400 people were rescued.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Follow the Flood Event |url=https://www.fcgov.com/utilities/what-we-do/stormwater/follow-the-flood-event |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=City of Fort Collins |language=en-US}}</ref> A documentary film was made detailing the flood and the reconstruction after the disaster.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dodge |first=Jeff |date=March 28, 2020 |title=Reel CSU Stories: The campus flood of 1997 |url=https://source.colostate.edu/reel-csu-stories-the-campus-flood-of-1997/ |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=[[Colorado State University]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Manning |first=Anne |date=July 26, 2017 |title=Record rain, record flood: A timeline of the July 1997 flood |url=https://source.colostate.edu/record-rain-record-flood-timeline-july-1997-fort-collins-flood/ |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=[[Colorado State University]]}}</ref> A high water marker was erected at Colorado State University designating the water level during the flood at Spring Creek.<ref name=":4" /> Following the flood, flood management projects and further mitigation measures were enacted, with the latter spent nearly $50 million.<ref name=":11" /> |
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== References == |
== References == |
Revision as of 23:40, 24 January 2024
Cause | Heavy rains |
---|---|
Meteorological history | |
Duration | July 27–28, 1997 |
Flood | |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | 5 |
Injuries | 62 |
Damage | >$250 million |
Areas affected | Spring Creek, Fort Collins, Colorado |
Houses destroyed | 200[1] |
In a two-day period on July 27–28, 1997, heavy rainfall caused an overflow of the Spring Creek near Fort Collins, Colorado.[2][3]
Background
Spring Creek is a 12.7-mile-long (20.4 km)[4] tributary of the Cache La Poudre River in the state of Colorado in the United States.[5] It begins at Spring Canyon Dam, and flows into Horsetooth Reservoir, and through Fort Collins.[6] Before the floods, moist atmospheric conditions occurred due to an unusual strong flow of monsoon moisture, despite the area experiencing drought conditions for six weeks.[7][8] A mitigation plan was also implemented prior to the floods, which cost $5 million.[9]
Meteorological synopsis
On July 27, a cold front moving southward entered portions of northern Colorado as cooler air was pushed towards the state from a high-pressure area centered over southern Canada.[10][11] Moisture also pushed into Colorado from the south, above the approaching cold front, as easterly winds pushed into eastern portions of the state moist, extremely humid surface air that was previously located over Kansas.[10][11] The humid surface air then moved and saturated into the Front Range, resulting in the development of slow-moving thunderstorms into the next day.[7][10] While this occurred, convection developed over Fort Collins,[12] producing heavy rainfall of up to 14.5 inches (370 mm) across western portions of the city,[3][7] including 10 inches (250 mm) of rain falling within five hours.[11] The heavy rainfall overwhelmed drains and caused debris to block a railroad passage, resulting in a flash flood across Fort Collins.[3][13] After the floods, moist air remained for several days over the state, eventually resulting in more convection developing that missed impacting already-impacted areas in Fort Collins and Larimer County, Colorado, instead inundating farmlands and portions of Sterling and Atwood, Colorado.[11] A Colorado State University climatologist compared the meteorological conditions in Spring Creek to the 1976 Big Thompson River flood.[10]
Impact
Most of the rain fell across western portions of Fort Collins, near Spring Creek.[13] At Colorado State University, 40 buildings were inundated by floodwaters, including the law enforcement department and television station at the university, causing over $100 million in damage.[14][1][15] In a basement in one of the buildings, damages to textbooks totaled up to $1 million, along with an additional 425,000 books kept at a nearby library damaged.[8] A fifteen-foot railroad embankment overflowed after suppressing 8,250 cubic feet (234,000 L) of floodwaters, causing a train to derail.[1][16] The floods killed five people, injured 62 people, and caused property damage in excess of $250 million,[1][12] including more than 2,000 businesses and homes being damaged or destroyed.[1][17] Several of the injured were transported to Poudre Valley Hospital for medical treatment, including hypothermia from the floodwaters and lacerations sustained from broken windows.[18] The rainfall in Fort Collins on July 28 was the heaviest in an urban area in the state.[5]
Aftermath
After the flood, 400 people were rescued.[19] A documentary film was made detailing the flood and the reconstruction after the disaster.[20][21] A high water marker was erected at Colorado State University designating the water level during the flood at Spring Creek.[10] Following the flood, flood management projects and further mitigation measures were enacted, with the latter spent nearly $50 million.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e "20 Years Later, Fort Collins Better Prepared For Flash Floods". KUNC. July 27, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ Vaughan, Kevin (July 27, 2017). "9NEWS reporter remembers devastating Fort Collins flood". KUSA (TV). Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ a b c "1997 Spring Creek Flood". Fort Collins History Connection. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 25, 2011
- ^ a b Langevin, Danielle; Sullivan, Tessa. "Spring Creek Flood of 1997". Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ^ "Spring Creek". City of Fort Collins. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ a b c Ogden, F. L.; Sharif, H. O.; Senarath, S. U. S.; Smith, J. A.; Baeck, M. L.; Richardson, J. R. (February 21, 2000). "Hydrologic analysis of the Fort Collins, Colorado, flash flood of 1997". Journal of Hydrology. 228 (1): 82–100. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00146-3. ISSN 0022-1694.
- ^ a b Candelario, Haley (July 27, 2017). "Fort Collins looks back 20 years after Spring Creek flood". The Rocky Mountain Collegian. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ a b "On Top of the Game in Floodplain Management". FEMA. February 11, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Manning, Anne (July 26, 2017). "A perfect storm, and a 500-year flood". Colorado State University. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d McKee, Thomas; Doesken, Nolan J. (January 1, 2015). "Analysis of rainfall for the July 28, 1997 flood in Fort Collins, Colorado, An". Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University.
- ^ a b Weaver, John F.; Gruntfest, Eve; Levy, Glenn M. (October 1, 2000). "Two Floods in Fort Collins, Colorado: Learning from a Natural Disaster". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 81 (10): 2359–2366. doi:10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081<2359:TFIFCC>2.3.CO;2. ISSN 0003-0007.
- ^ a b Young, Rich (July 28, 2022). "Spring Creek Flood 25 years ago led to a national precipitation network, infrastructure upgrades". Colorado State University. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ Duggan, Kevin (July 20, 2017). "Duggan: The flood that shocked and traumatized Fort Collins". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ Brooke, James (July 31, 1997). "Colorado State University Is Still Reeling From a Flash Flood". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ "Victims remembered on 10th anniversary of Fort Collins Flood". Vail Daily. July 29, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ "20th Anniversary Of Deadly Flooding In Fort Collins". CBS Colorado. July 30, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
- ^ "5 die as record rains flood Fort Collins". Deseret News. July 29, 1997. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ^ "Follow the Flood Event". City of Fort Collins. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ Dodge, Jeff (March 28, 2020). "Reel CSU Stories: The campus flood of 1997". Colorado State University. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ^ Manning, Anne (July 26, 2017). "Record rain, record flood: A timeline of the July 1997 flood". Colorado State University. Retrieved January 22, 2024.