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Rain forces closure of 67 in Hayman area
The return of monsoonal moisture from the southwest and a cold front from the north collided over the Hayman burn area with a one-two punch July 27, dumping heavy rain that closed a state highway.
By By: Sean Hadden
The return of monsoonal moisture from the southwest and a cold front from the north collided over the Hayman burn area with a one-two punch July 27, dumping heavy rain that closed a state highway.
The slow-moving storm unloaded 2 to 3 inches of rain south of Deckers, which caused mudslides that closed Colorado 67 for several hours.
No one was injured by the mudslides or flooding, and property damage was minimal, said Douglas County Emergency Services Manager Jim Raymond.
The storm began about 3 p.m. and ended about 4:30 p.m., said Lt. Tim Moore, spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
Roughly a 3-mile stretch of road south of Deckers was closed by a flow of decomposed granite and forest debris that made the road impassable, said Raymond and Douglas County Operations Manager Denny Gibson.
Members of the county public works department, the county emergency services department, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado State Patrol and the sheriff's office pitched in to clear the road, Moore said.
It reopened about 8:30 p.m.
"We were really concerned. That road is so important to our residents in that area," Raymond said. "We wanted to get the road open as soon as possible."
The worst damage occurred in the Thunder Butte subdivision south of Deckers, Gibson said.
A number of newly installed drainage culverts were overwhelmed by the large amount of runoff and washed away, he said.
Because of this, a number of roads and driveways in the subdivision were damaged, Gibson said.
And in the area that received the heaviest rain, about 9 miles south of Deckers, runoff from the fire-damaged slopes uprooted 200-300 trees as large as 2 feet in diameter and swept them away, he said.
Gibson speculated that the road might have been destroyed by this log jam, but a 20-foot roadside ditch gave the trees a place to pile up.
"The flooding potential is going to be an ongoing issue for the next few years," Moore said.
He said those at greatest risk from flooding in or near the burn area are people who travel to the area for recreation, rather than permanent residents.
Generally, the residents know what to do in the event of a flash flood, Moore said.
He urged people not to try to drive through rising or debris-choked water and to seek higher ground if they notice water suddenly starting to rise.
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the storm had an element of the much-needed monsoon moisture.
He said long-term forecasting indicates the monsoon flow will not be shut off this year as in recent drought years.
The slow-moving storm unloaded 2 to 3 inches of rain south of Deckers, which caused mudslides that closed Colorado 67 for several hours.
No one was injured by the mudslides or flooding, and property damage was minimal, said Douglas County Emergency Services Manager Jim Raymond.
The storm began about 3 p.m. and ended about 4:30 p.m., said Lt. Tim Moore, spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
Roughly a 3-mile stretch of road south of Deckers was closed by a flow of decomposed granite and forest debris that made the road impassable, said Raymond and Douglas County Operations Manager Denny Gibson.
Members of the county public works department, the county emergency services department, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado State Patrol and the sheriff's office pitched in to clear the road, Moore said.
It reopened about 8:30 p.m.
"We were really concerned. That road is so important to our residents in that area," Raymond said. "We wanted to get the road open as soon as possible."
The worst damage occurred in the Thunder Butte subdivision south of Deckers, Gibson said.
A number of newly installed drainage culverts were overwhelmed by the large amount of runoff and washed away, he said.
Because of this, a number of roads and driveways in the subdivision were damaged, Gibson said.
And in the area that received the heaviest rain, about 9 miles south of Deckers, runoff from the fire-damaged slopes uprooted 200-300 trees as large as 2 feet in diameter and swept them away, he said.
Gibson speculated that the road might have been destroyed by this log jam, but a 20-foot roadside ditch gave the trees a place to pile up.
"The flooding potential is going to be an ongoing issue for the next few years," Moore said.
He said those at greatest risk from flooding in or near the burn area are people who travel to the area for recreation, rather than permanent residents.
Generally, the residents know what to do in the event of a flash flood, Moore said.
He urged people not to try to drive through rising or debris-choked water and to seek higher ground if they notice water suddenly starting to rise.
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the storm had an element of the much-needed monsoon moisture.
He said long-term forecasting indicates the monsoon flow will not be shut off this year as in recent drought years.
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