Global Disaster Headlines – September 18, 2013

581 People remain unaccounted for in Colorado floods

The number of people unaccounted for in the Colorado floods was revised to 581 Tuesday,  according to the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.

Oil-field flood tally: 1,900 wells shut

A drilling derrick near Greeley stands in the flood waters of the South Platte River. (Photo By Tim Rasmussen/The Denver Post)

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Floods submerge Acapulco, death toll climbs, 40,000 tourists stranded

Mexico’s famous beach resort of Acapulco was in chaos on Tuesday as hotels rationed food for thousands of stranded tourists and floodwaters swallowed homes and cars after some of the most damaging storms in decades killed at least 55 people across the country.

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‘Orange Alert’ as extra-tropical cyclone hits Montevideo, Uruguay

Uruguayan authorities issued an Orange Alert as an extra-tropical cyclone battered the capital Montevideo, forcing the evacuations of hundreds of people along the coastal areas in the South Atlantic Ocean. The cyclone cut power to more than 3,000 homes in the region.

Original Caption: A wave hits the dam on the coastal avenue in front of the Rio de la Plata during the passage of the extra-tropical cyclone that affects the country, in Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, on Sept. 17, 2013. The Uruguayan authorities issued an orange alert for the next hours by the passage of extra-tropical cyclone that has already caused power shortage to more than 3,000 homes, and more than 600 people have been evacuated in various departments of the country. (Xinhua/Nicolas Celaya)

Related Links

• Colorado Disaster Zone Spreads across 17 Counties September 17, 2013

• Twin Storms Leave 42 Dead, 1.2 Million Battered September 17, 2013

Colorado Disaster Zone Spreads across 17 Counties

Death toll reaches 8, as Colorado floods destroy or damage thousands of homes

The disaster zone encompasses 17 Colorado counties, as the historic deluge, called a 500-to-1,000-year flood, forces thousands of evacuations.

The Colorado Office of Emergency Management has now raised the official death toll to eight, up from five over the weekend.

In Boulder County about 2,000 people have been evacuated, most of them airlifted by helicopters.

In Larimer County at least 1,000 people remain to be evacuated.

At least 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 4,500 damaged in Larimer County. Additionally, 200 businesses have been lost and 500 damaged.

More than 100 homes were destroyed in the town of Lyons, Boulder County, but no countywide figures were available, as of posting.

About 600 people remained unaccounted for in Larimer and Boulder counties, many believed to be stranded in remote mountain areas cut off by floodwaters and with no access to telephone, cell phone or Internet service, officials said.

Floodwaters are moving east toward Nebraska, where officials have issued multiple flood warnings.

More than 533mm (21 inches) of rain fell in parts of Boulder city, near Denver, during the week-long deluge, nearly twice the area’s average annual rainfall.

Colorado’s air rescue operations were the largest in the United States since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, said National Guard officials.

Fema and Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced yesterday that 12 additional counties had been added to the September 12, 2013, presidential emergency disaster declaration for the Colorado flooding in Boulder, El Paso and Larimer counties.

The additional disaster counties include Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Fremont, Jefferson, Morgan, Logan, Pueblo, Washington and Weld counties, which were affected by the severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides.

Related Links

• “This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood” September 15, 2013

• N. Colorado Declared as Federal Disaster Area September 14, 2013
• Tens of Thousands Evacuated as Colorado Floods Worsen September 13, 2013
• Deadly Flooding Forces Thousands of Evacuations in Colorado September 13, 2013

• Tri- State Area Rainfall Reports (September 12, 2013)
• Flood Evacuation: overflowing dam forces evacuation of Leyden neighborhood in Jefferson County

“This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood”

Torrential rains continue pounding flood-devastated Colorado

More rain has been falling in flood-devastated Colorado for a fifth day.

On Saturday several additional towns along the South Platte River were under mandatory evacuation.

Several areas have received more than 15 inches of rain over three days, an amount more than the annual total average, according to National Weather Service.

“This is a 500-to-1,000-year flood,” said a Weld County commissioner.

“We continue to have new landslides and road collapses,” said a message posted by the Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District, warning trapped residents that rescuers were having difficulty reaching them.

“Rescue crews got a break when the rains let up on Friday, but by Saturday afternoon the rains returned, prompting the National Weather Service to issue flash flood warnings for canyons west of the Denver metro area,” said a report.

“This event has stunned all of us,” U.S. Senator Mark Udall said after touring the devastated area by air with Governor John Hickenlooper and other politicians on Saturday.

Riverbend campground, Storm Mountain near Drake. Credit: Deb Green.

Two of the worst hit areas are Weld County where the swollen St. Vrain, Big Thompson and Cache La Poudre rivers empty into the South Platte River, and Morgan County, further downstream, where the towns of Weldona, Goodrich, Muir Springs and Orchard were under evacuation orders, the report said.

• The disaster zone is larger than 10,000 mi², an area the size of Massachusetts.

• The raging floodwaters have destroyed numerous buildings, roads and bridges in the the disaster areas.

• Flooding has left at least 4 people dead, and a fifth victim, a 60-year-old female, is missing and presumed dead after witnesses saw her home swept away by floodwaters, according to Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.

• About 520 people are still unaccounted for, said Gov. Hickenlooper in a TV interview (the figure includes 350 people in Larimer County and 170 others in Boulder County), and officials have warned the death toll could rise.

Related Links

• N. Colorado Declared as Federal Disaster Area September 14, 2013
• ens of Thousands Evacuated as Colorado Floods Worsen September 13, 2013
• Deadly Flooding Forces Thousands of Evacuations in Colorado September 13, 2013

N. Colorado Declared as Federal Disaster Area

Federal Disaster area declared for Fort Collins, northern Colo.

Thousands more evacuations have been ordered for the northern neighborhoods of Fort Collins.

The Poudre River is flowing at a rate of about 10,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), 100 times its normal flow, flooding significantly through Fort Collins and is expected to rise.

Officials have urged thousands of people to take shelter in dozens of the northern neighborhoods of Fort Collins.

Severe flooding has forced officials to close bridges, schools, and city offices in Fort Collins and Loveland, Colo.

Colorado State Patrol troopers took this photo on I-25 near Highway 34 in Larimer County at 7:30 on Friday, September 13, 2013.

A flood warning posted on the city of Fort Collins website read: “Poudre River has reached capacity and is flooding. The flooding on the river is of much greater severity than earlier reports. Travel is discouraged. For your safety, please avoid areas near the river. All bridges that cross the Poudre River are closed. Do NOT attempt to drive through floodwaters.”

The Big Thompson River is flowing at more than 9,000 cfs, the highest level since the Big Thompson flood of 1976, officials said.

“The city of Loveland has essentially been divided in two by the flow of the Big Thompson River,” said Tom Hacker, public information officer for the city of Loveland.

“There is no river crossing that is open in Loveland at this time. Any transit going from North to South in Loveland is impossible.”

4 Dead, 176 Missing

As of Friday evening, the death toll from the worst floods to hit Colorado in living memory had climbed to at least four with 176  others still unaccounted for.

Largest Storm in History

“It’s got to be the largest storm that I can imagine in the state’s history,” said Governor John Hickenlooper at a news conference.

Colorado Emergency Declaration

Meantime, the White House declared an emergency exists in the State of Colorado and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides beginning on September 11, 2013, and continuing.

The declaration is in response to the threat of catastrophe in the counties of Boulder, El Paso, and Larimer, said the WH statement.

On Friday, Governor Hickenlooper declared a disaster emergency for 14 counties.

Related Links

• Tens of Thousands Evacuated as Colorado Floods Worsen September 13, 2013
• Deadly Flooding Forces Thousands of Evacuations in Colorado September 13, 2013