Flood recalled on 30th anniversary

Big Thompson tragedy was worst natural disaster in Colorado

Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 1, 2006 at midnight

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DRAKE - Julie Kronenberger was 11, staying in a cabin near Drake with her family, when the sky turned black and the torrential rains hit on July 31, 1976.

"I was the only one to survive. I made it up the side of the mountain," Kronenberger said Monday, at a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Big Thompson Canyon flood, Colorado's worst natural disaster.

Her parents, Ed and Ester Kronenberger, and her sister, Kim, of Littleton, were among the 144 who died.

A rare convergence of evening thunderstorms generated a juggernaut flow that crested at 20 feet in the narrow canyon between Drake and Loveland.

Amid pine tree groves and steep cliffs, hundreds of homes and trailers lined Big Thompson Canyon, a cherished riverside summer refuge.

The flood tore people from their homes and cars, erased all traces of homes, businesses and lives, tore out bridges and roads and carried boulders for miles.

The damages tallied $115 million in today's dollars and forever changed the lives of survivors and the families of victims.

At the gathering, Kronenberger, who lives in Denver, ran into several people who had huddled with her, shivering that fateful night on the mountainside.

"It wasn't until years later that I read all the coverage, saw the pictures and started to realize what really happened," said Kronenberger.

In May, a friend was married at Viestenz-Smith Park where Monday's gathering was held, and Kronenberger provided the pink peony floral arrangements.

"It was nice to come up for a happy occasion," she said.

Tom Casadevall, regional director of the U.S. Geological Survey, which helped organize the gathering, said the Big Thompson flood was "a benchmark event that defined the science" of floods.

For the survivors and the families of the victims, the flood defined their lives.

Cindi Mayhugh was 15 and at home in Iowa with her mother when they learned six family members had disappeared in the flood. She and her mother grabbed family pictures and sped to Colorado.

"We and the survivors here now all bonded for life," said Mayhugh, who still lives in Iowa. "The more I come, the more healed I feel."

Mayhugh said she grew up spending summers in a cabin with her grandparents, William and Emma Haskell, an uncle and aunt, William and Judy Haskell, and two cousins, Chad Haskell and Kelly Lemon, who died in the flood.

"When we were able to go up the canyon, everything was stripped bare," she said.

Rocky Craig, who was 18 and driving from Estes Park to Fort Collins, said a state trooper inspired him to lead a convoy of five vehicles to safety from a fast-vanishing road.

"The water was at his windows," said Craig, " but he stayed on to save others. He is why we survived."

Craig believes the officer was Sgt. Hugh Purdy, who died while warning others to flee.

Shar Wamsley, a canyon resident, said the survivors, the families of victims and the whole community "came together with a greater force than the strength of the water" to overcome the tragedy's aftermath.

Big Thompson Flood, July 31, 1976

Converging storms poured 12 inches of rain into the narrow mountain drainages feeding into the canyon between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., creating Colorado's worst natural disaster.

144 Number of lives lost.

418 Number of homes destroyed. Other lost property: 52 businesses, 438 vehicles, numerous bridges, roads and power and telephone lines.

$115 million Cost of flood in 2006 dollars

20 feet Peak water height, measured at an area known as The Narrows.

31,200cubic feet per second

Peak water flow. Normal flow at the time was 210 cfs.Source: U.S. Geological Survey

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