Heat spells disaster

59 Colo. counties designated federal farm disaster areas

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 18, 2006 at midnight

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Fifty-nine counties in Colorado have been designated federal agriculture disaster areas because of the drought, Gov. Bill Owens announced Monday.

"There are no signs that the drought is ending," said Owens' spokesman Dan Hopkins. "This simply validates that (point)."

The approval of the disaster designation by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns means farmers in the affected counties can apply for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.

"Colorado's farmers and ranchers have been among the hardest hit by drought conditions," Owens said Monday.

"These designations won't bring the rain that's so desperately needed. But hopefully they will provide help until Mother Nature decides to cooperate."

The counties had applied for the designation in May and June, citing the heat, high winds, a late freeze and the ongoing drought.

Only five Colorado counties - Garfield, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt - have not received the designation. But Monday, Rio Blanco and Garfield applied to also be included in the disaster designation, according to Hopkins. The approval process takes about a month.

In 2002, all 64 counties in the state were declared agriculture disaster areas because of the drought.

Last year, only 14 counties received the designation.

"2005 was a whole lot better," said Jim Miller, policy director for the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

"In October (2005) we had a very nice rain in eastern Colorado, with some places getting 4 to 5 inches. It sent the pasture into the winter in pretty good shape. But a dry winter and an extremely dry spring sapped the moisture. In some areas, there has been no grass growth at all."

Searing heat over the weekend did nothing to improve the drought outlook, but it did cause power outages all over the Denver area.

About 100 transformers blew as demand peaked about 3 p.m. Sunday, causing 12,000 customers to lose power.

"We're working around the clock," said Ethnie Groves, spokeswoman for Xcel Energy. "We're doing our best to get those transformers replaced."

The Weed family in Arvada had just put chicken wings in an oven at 5 p.m. Sunday evening, when the electricity died at six homes in the 6200 block of McIntyre Court.

"We were getting ready to sit down for dinner and watch television and then - boom!" said Jim Weed. "No power."

The family dealt with the six-hour power outage by opening windows, putting bags of ice in their refrigerator to keep food cold, and using candles as they retreated to the cooler basement.

As for dinner, they went out to eat. The chicken wings were saved for lunch Monday.

"You don't know how much you rely on electricity until it's gone," said Weed. "It was like the Dark Ages."

A transformer in the Weed's backyard was replaced Sunday night. Xcel crews were still working in his neighborhood on Monday.

Foreman John Bass had replaced three transformers by Monday afternoon and still had a long list of waiting homes.

"I don't know how many we have anymore," he said. "I have a feeling we might be doing this tomorrow."

As of 10 p.m. Monday, about 3,000 Denver-area customers were still without power. Most of those homes were dark because of blown transformers.

Part of the delay in restoring electricity to homes was caused by having to replace the entire transformer instead of a fuse or a part.

"It takes a little more time, but it's a better system," said Groves. "It's more an investment for the future, not a quick fix."

About 1,300 residents in Northglenn and Thornton lost power to their homes Monday when a feeder line went down at 2 p.m. Xcel crews were expected to have it repaired Monday evening.

Electrical problems also continued to plague the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Monday.

A large fuse on a transformer blew out and left the museum without power from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people who had come to see the sold-out Body Worlds 2 exhibit.

"We assume it was due to too many demands on the system because of the heat," said spokeswoman Laura Holtman.

Monday, the Body Worlds exhibit was the only attraction open at the museum. The rest of the exhibits, the planetarium and the IMAX theater were closed until the electrical problems could be resolved.

Coloradans got some relief from the heat Monday when a band of upper level moisture formed over the state.

Denver's high Monday was 92 degrees, compared with the record of 101 set for the day in 1971. The normal high is 88. The low Monday was 72 degrees, well above the normal low of 59.

"When you have clouds during the day, it doesn't warm up," said Bob Koopmeiners, forecast meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"When you have clouds at night, it doesn't cool down."

Temperatures will be dropping to more seasonal norms by the end of the week.

Today will still be hot - with a high of 99 degrees - and Wednesday will also be toasty, with a high of 97.

But Thursday will see the high temperature drop to 89 degrees, go back up to 90 on Friday and stay at 87 for the weekend.

"We have more water vapor," said Koopmeiners. "More clouds means cooler temperatures. We're hoping that we get the afternoon storms back."

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