Life after the flood

In the seven weeks (from September 17th to November 4) following the flood of 2013, our lives took on a new normal.  Since work and school was located in Estes, M and us girls became part-time residents of the YMCA, while D remained in Loveland.

 

The night before leaving home for the first time, D bribed us for kisses....

and gave us some books to take with us for our nights at the Y.

Since the roads weren't open to the public yet, when we got close enough to Estes, M had to show ID which included my student card to prove that we had essential business in EP.  Here are some maps to give you a little better view of the routes we had to take.

Google Map

The first week we shared a cabin with M's employee.  We had one room to ourselves and shared the kitchen.  It had a lovely porch that I spent a few evenings reading on (I even won a reading award with this picture at school!)

Our new normal included meals in the cafeteria after school/work and then off to play before bed.  Due to roads closed and road damage at the entrance, the Y remained closed for 3 weeks until the road just before the entrance was declared passable to more than one lane.  Since the Y had 1500 staff and guests when it was evacuated Saturday, there was plenty of food for just the 150 on grounds staff, the few evacuees and displaced staff and the 50+ relief workers that included National Guard, sheriff and state patrol who were staying on Y grounds in the days/weeks following the flood. Not knowing when a true supply truck would be able to get into the Y property, the meals were creative mixtures of stuff in the freezer.

So the first three weeks we shared the activities with local families and some of the National Guard troops that had still had energy at the end of the day.  The first night we went roller skating.  As we were walking back to the cabin that night in the dark, we heard the rushing of the river that was over 3/4 mile away.  Usually that river is only heard a few hundred feet, not miles.  It was just one more reminder of the power and force of water even almost a week later.

After the first day, the Y began to offer childcare to all staff children until the school truly opened.  Therefore M took the initiative to walk everywhere and left the big pickup parked when possible.  We started our morning by walking C to preschool and then heading to the Admin building to drop me off with my after-school counselors.  Then M would finish the loop and drop herself off at work.  In the evening she would repeat and then we would stop and play at the playground on the way to supper.

The first week only the gym and rollerskating were open, so we had some fun with basketballs.

M used her lunchtime to run and explore some of the other areas of property and the flood damage.  One day she passed the road closed sign and while running through the mud, found a sinkhole!  Even two weeks later there were sinkholes showing up around roads and trails.

By the second day at the Y, M was starting to hear rumors of a shortcut down to the valley that was open and would save half the time on the drive home.  By Thursday night it was official as M came across people who had actually driven Gold Hill road.  So Friday after work, we packed up our stuff and headed down Hwy 7 to Hwy 72 to Gold Hill, which was a gravel road along the ridge until it got to the small town of Gold Hill and then it dropped down very steeply into Boulder via Sunshine Canyon.  M wasn't the only one who had heard about this road, as this little one lane gravel road was a major throughway for all commuters up and down the valley.  But M was so thrilled that this little 15 miles cut across only took 45 minutes and cut our time home from 4 hours to just over 2 1/2 hours!  However, because it was a road not meant for such heavy volumes of traffic, the road was barricaded very quickly.  Since M wasn't sure if she would be allowed back up, we headed out Sunday night in case we had to go the long way back up for the second week.  We had caravaned with my really good friend's daddy who also works at the Y the first week (P didn't come the first week since school wasn't official yet).  For the next three weeks, we carpooled.  So at 5 pm Sunday night we met up and headed up to the mountains.  At the check-point in Boulder, M's ID, staff badge and my student ID were all shown.  The Boulder sheriff was so nice and fist bumped us three girls in the back. Since he was training another officer, his words as M heard them were, "You'll see this also.  They live in Loveland, but work up in Estes and the little girls go to school there.  Just let them right on through."

Since I had an accident the first week up at the Y (detail in another post), and I couldn't swim M decided to bring a few more toys along with us.  We also were moved to a lodge room the second week as M's employee was allowed back into her home.  We remained in the same room for the next three weeks which helped our packing/unpacking each weekend.  We only had to take home laundry and replenish milk for cereal.

So in the evening after supper and homework (since school officially opened that second week once their sewer lines were fixed), we spent the last hours of daylight playing on our scooter's with my friend P.

Even Teddy came along for some rides!

 

A few evenings before supper we tried our hand at mini golf.  M's thought was the more she kept us occupied and out of the lodge room the more like an adventure it would seem to us and the less likely we would miss home so much.  It also helped to occupy her mind so it was easier to cope with the involuntary separation M&D were going through, since week-long travel wasn't a choice M had made, but a situation thrust upon our family by a flood of rain in just a matter of hours.  At least there was always an end in sight and even the first week, M knew it wouldn't last more than 2 1/2 months, as the governor promised temporary roads no later than December 1.

That second week was so long away from home (Sunday night to Friday afternoon), that when M&D had the opportunity to go on a date Sunday night which wouldn't allow us to head up to EP until Monday morning, M didn't even think twice.  So Monday morning bright and early before dawn we met up with P and her daddy for the drive up the mountain.  Luckily us girls fell back asleep, and in the pre-dawn hours the barricade entrance to Gold Hill wasn't being manned, so we just sailed right on through the road closed sign.  With school also having a few Friday's off in a row, M and P's daddy made the plan to have short weeks at the Y and long weekends at home. So week 3 and 4 were Monday morning to Thursday evening, which made for only 3 nights away from home. 

By the fourth week, we had a good routine down. We woke up early enough for me to catch the bus 1 mile from the Y entrance (again due to road damage), being picked up by M walking around Y property, going to eat (and thanking a random National Guardsmen every night for fixing our roads for us), back to the room for homework and then off to play.  I was very excited when my injury healed and I was able to start swimming.  That became a favorite evening event for us. 

 Since there were so few people around, the elk and deer were roaming the Y property.  They didn't even really care when we walked by on the way to the pool.

Two days before the Y opened to the public, it hosted  a community fundraising event with dinner and a concert. 

Since I wasn't all that into the concert, we only stayed for about 4 songs and then headed to the gym to play with P.

We broke the seven weeks up nicely by having scheduled a trip to California.  The last week before the trip Hwy 119 opened from Boulder to Nederland.  Even though it was more miles than Gold Hill it was a faster route by about 20 minutes because it was a paved road vs. the gravel ridgeline route of Gold Hill.  After our return from CA, with no new timeframe on roads, M prepared for us to have to have another 6 weeks as the shorter routes weren't expected to be open until December 1.  The first day back however, M and I drove up and down the same day as C didn't have school and had to stay in Loveland for the day, but that again shortened the nights we spent at the Y that week.  By the that first week back from vacation, M started hearing rumblings that Hwy 36 might be opening mid-November.  Since guests were starting to come back in full force to the Y, we were moved to a different lodge room--again one that we could stay in the same room for multiple weeks.  The thought was to try to keep stability for the evacuees and displaced staff as much as possible while still honoring all reservations in place.  The second lodge had a balcony with it.

One night while getting ice from the machine M started talking to a National Guardsmen who was working on the roads.  Their tour of duty was almost over and they were getting ready to leave the area, so M was thanking him for all his hard work.  His response was that the paving was done and he didn't see why it wouldn't open that next weekend.  That made M so excited, but she tried to control it by remembering he was working on the upper part of the road and she knew the lower portion was more heavily damaged.  But it was still good news.  Within a week of that conversation, CDOT came out and did announce that Hwy 36 would open November 4 at noon.  M was so excited because that meant that we could start driving home every night as it would reduce the driving time to about 1 1/2 hours.  The last night at the Y we took a picture walking back from the pool.

Sweet dreams of our beds at home waiting for us in just one more night!!

Thank you YMCA for hosting us for the past 6 weeks and for giving us a safe place to stay among all the turmoil of the flood.

Flood Aftermath

All around Colorado are signs of the September flood.  It wasn't an isolated area, the flood hit almost 5 mountain creeks and their courses.  It spread from Estes in the mountains to front range communities of Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Boulder.  It spread east to Greeley and all the towns along the North Platte river.  On our 4 hour drive to Estes that first time five days after the flood, it was under clear beautiful blue skies.  If it wasn't for the massive road damage and debris all over everywhere, the flood would have seemed like it never happened.

About 5 miles south of Estes is where M saw the biggest signs of the flood.  Behind one resort, was a massive flood plain.

Coming around the corner, M realized the floodplain was caused by the massive mudslide which wiped out a good stretch of Twin Sisters mountain.

There were other rockslides and mudslides along the roads that pushed debris over the road and caused damage.  It wasn't just rivers that caused damage, it was also the massive rock slides and tree debris pushed along by tons of water pressure.

 

Right by one of the most historic sites outside of Estes Park, was a log jam.  The only explanation M had was the forestry work and slash piles that had been building up in Rocky Mountain Park due to beetle kill were washed down the slopes by the water.  This caused the water to build up and overflow across the road.

M and D highly debated about whether C and I would join M up in Estes that first week.  School had obviously been cancelled the day of the flood and the day after.  It was still shut down Monday because of sewer line damage.  But Monday afternoon, both the elementary school and the preschool were scheduled to open their doors on Tuesday.  Since a lot of my friends and classmates were still stranded, 19 teachers who reside in the valley and port-a-potties as the other restrooms, school was not mandatory but a safe area for kids to gather while parents worked at cleaning.  

We made it to school just after 10 that first morning.  Since buses weren't running, M picked me up from school and we went to look at the road below the bus barn--Fish Creek.  This was really the only road damaged in Estes, but because the sewer lines ran underneath the road, all the neighborhoods on either side was declared a "no-flush" zone and would remain so for the next 7 weeks as repairs happened.  

Fish Creek was the shortcut we used from Hwy 34 over to school.  The intersection of Fish Creek and Brodie avenue is about 1/4 mile below the school and where we would turn.  Now a 20 foot ditch is there!

In the days following, helicopters were a common site.  The day we drove up to Estes 1200+ people were air evacuated from remote mountain areas that were cut off because all the major roads were damaged or destroyed.

Other scenes from around Estes included a stable that is now in a river plain rather than on the banks...

 

driveways washed out and water running where cars should be....

bridges damages as the water washed away foundations.

In one river bank M found a gate with locks still attached, no where near the road it once helped block.

Around town that first week were piles of debris as the businesses worked to get back open...

and signage in window alerting passbyers of the damage to businesses.  This store was where M worked a second job for a brief 10 months right before M&D were married.  The yellow sign is stating that the business is only open for clean-up.

  

Although most of the water had receded in downtown by the time we got to town, there were still areas of standing water and the river was still running pretty high.

Evidence of the huge amounts of mud that was carried by the water.

As more and more areas opened to the public in the days and weeks following the flood, there were unreal images of damage.  Along one major highway is a junk yard were damaged vehicles are being taken.  At first glance, this camper looks just fine.  But on second glance, you can see the high water mark from bumper to hitch, ending right below the bedroom window, which is at least 8-10 feet off the ground.

Just one of many cars still sitting along the riverbank.  If it wasn't for the wheels you wouldn't even know it used to be a SUV/jeep of some sort.
 
There are houses along the river that have mud and debris pushed into them....
and some houses that are barely holding on, as the bank was washed away under them.

Whole bridges were washed away and all that remain is the cement foundation.

Around the clock work is being done to get roads repaired.  Lake Estes was drained and is being dredged to use for road base. Since at one point the only road not damaged into Estes was Trail Ridge that climbs to more than 12,000 feet as it travels through Rocky Mountain Park, it was closed in order for the caravans of earth-moving equipment, rock crushers and other heavy equipment being moved into Estes in the days following the flood.

Big Elk Meadows road is being rebuilt and culverts replaced.

Condos and resorts in Estes are working hard to claim back what the river took from them.

A few weeks after the flood, the leaves were changing, the mountains had snow on them and it was just a "normal" day in downtown Estes.