Hatidua started this thread on 9-12-13, the peak day of the flood. I was at my cabin near the headwaters of the Middle St. Vrain west of Lyons watching the river rise to an unprecedented level in my lifetime, far above normal spring runoff flooding. It had been raining almost non stop for three weeks, which saturated and flooded soils on every bit normally high and dry ground.

At our farm in western CO we store food and other supplies to last a year or more, but at the cabin I may have only 30 days of food on hand. It turned out to be a good thing that I also had about 30 gal. of potable water in containers. The house is on the river and we have a constantly flowing spring that supplies drinking water but during the flood neither water sources were safe to drink without sanitizing.

When the downstream flood knocked out power lines we lost electricity to pump, pressurize and UV sanitize the household water system. I had to rely on stored water for drinking & cooking. I carried buckets of water from the river to flush the toilet. At least the septic field was still taking water from the house and that we hadn't yet connected to the new improved county mandated septic field. My neighbor's new septic systems were all backing up. A crappy story worthy of another thread....

My close neighbors and I had flooded basements and crawlspaces, ruined carpet and other stuff, but no serious structural damage. Generators, sump pumps, wet vacs and fans got us through. Downstream just a few miles things were much more serious. In Raymond and Riverside 12 or more bridges washed out, along with trees, power poles, roads and houses. Once we had our situation under control my neighbor and I went downstream to help other neighbors. My impression was that everyone was looking out for one another.


Be prepared for the unexpected. It costs scarcely more than a little thought and effort. Keep the pantry full, store clean water and never go home without a full gas tank.