Matt Firth
Staff Writer
On
September 12, a flood devastated over 2,000 square miles of the Front Range of
Colorado. Over eight inches of rain soaked the area. Many have called it a
“thousand year event” because of the excessive rain and unprecedented flooding.
So far eight people have been found dead, over 100 miles of road damaged, and
thousands of homes have been ruined.
Almost
Immediately after the floods, President Obama, as well as Governor John
Hickenlooper stepped in. The day after the floods began, Obama gave the Federal
Emergency Management Agency permission to begin giving aid to the region. On
Sept. 13, Hickenlooper said in the Denver Post, “Each time an issue arises,
we’re saying ‘all right, do we need a special session or can we deal with
that,’ “ on the topic of convening a special session to assess the damage and
decide what to do. The next day he signed for $20 million for disaster relief.
Everything
began on Monday, Sept. 9, as rain began to fall over the Front Range. In just
24 hours almost a year’s worth of rain was dropped on the area. Over 2,000
homes were destroyed by the torrents of water that surged down roads and
transformed small creeks into rivers. Roads and bridges were badly damaged and
many were destroyed. Along with the eight dead, thousands of people have been
evacuated.
Approximately
14,000 people were evacuated, due in large part to the National Guard who began
to evacuate people on Friday. Three thousand people and 900 pets have been
evacuated by helicopter, and hundreds more from “high profile” trucks that “wade”
through the water. Of the thousands originally missing, the final six were
found alive on Tuesday. There is only one person left unaccounted for, but is
believed to be dead.
Among
many activists there has been a severe concern about the multitude of fracking
wells in the path of the floods, and recently their worries were confirmed.
Many fracking and oil wells were destroyed, releasing chemicals and oil into
the water. In Weld County, the site of thousands of fracking wells, many were
submerged, and even some tanks containing the waste produced by the fracking
were torn away. This connects to people living in Pennsylvania because of the
immense amount of fracking going on in the state. Due to the high concern the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took helicopters out to do an aerial
survey. They were looking for oil sheens, but were also on the lookout for any
signs that an event like the Yellowstone River pipeline rupture of 2011 could
happen again.
