Lyons, CO flood aftermath

One of my oldest, best friends lives in Lyons, CO. The media glazed over it, but the town was destroyed by a flood last month. My friend was one of the few who didn't lose her house/car/everything she owned. She was able to move back into her house this weekend (finally got gas, electric, & water...though not potable,) but the majority of the town is still berkeleyed. There's one road into/out of town, with cop/national guard checkpoints (not a bad thing...just surreal) to get in or out.

Please watch the video. These are not the type of folks to beg for cash and scream "Woe is me." If there's no lootin' and shootin', the media's not interested, and the help is limited to FEMA. Not begging for spare change, but there's a link on the page to donate, if you're so inclined, though I can't vouch for the site. Regardless, I just think people should know how berkeleyed it is.

I'm going to try to get out there soon and lend a hand.

http://vimeo.com/m/77357408

I remember you cracking jokes to cheer her up, then find out you were on speaker phone.

Was this right under one of the dam failures due to that flooding?

JoeyM wrote: I remember you cracking jokes to cheer her up, then find out you were on speaker phone.

Yeah. Had no idea how bad it was. I'm all "Woohooo! You're back in your house!" but I guess she's one of a couple hundred, and her neighborhood is fuxored, friends lost everything, etc.

She sent me some pix yesterday. I'll get 'em hosted & posted.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/23/colorado-flood-before-and_n_3975938.html

Oh, nvm.....no dams there, just the entire town being built in a prexisting funnel in the mountains.

Hopefully they get their town back and make the best of it.

Trying to figure out a way to get out there to help. CRAZY busy at work. 21 hour drive in a car with 385,000 miles, which I'd HAVE to split up into two days, so that's 4 days total driving. I might be able to snag a cheap plane ticket, but I'd really rather have all my tools, etc. I just sent an email to the Red Cross re: volunteering.

...and Clark Howard's site is showing $250-$300 round trip specials to Denver. So yeah. berkeley a bunch a drivin'.

Check air tran, I got a 1 way special notice, maybe worth looking.

I'm going to guess none of these people had flood insurance of any kind...

madmallard wrote: Check air tran, I got a 1 way special notice, maybe worth looking. I'm going to guess none of these people had flood insurance of any kind...

That's entirely possible. It's not an area known for flooding.

then the only benefits these people will have -is- FEMA and charity.

i do see a couple of pieces of golf courses in the overhead shots of the articles.

hopefully that means at least some of them had financial habits of saving that allowed them to afford those houses in the first place.

i do not envy people check-to-check in a natural disaster. even with insurance, if you dont have an emergency fund to grease your wheels, you're in for some tough weeks...

(said from a perspective of working in disaster claims industry...)

madmallard wrote: then the only benefits these people will have -is- FEMA and charity. i do see a couple of pieces of golf courses in the overhead shots of the articles. hopefully that means at least some of them had financial habits of saving that allowed them to afford those houses in the first place. i do not envy people check-to-check in a natural disaster. even with insurance, if you dont have an emergency fund to grease your wheels, you're in for some tough weeks... (said from a perspective of working in disaster claims industry...)

I get the sense that it's generally a pretty low-income area; or that there's a big split. Like a few people in town have all the $$$ and rent to lower-middle income folks...just the sense I get. Not necessarily true. It's more of a "hippy/artist" place than a "Drive the Bimmer to the links" place...or so I'm told.

I'm sure my friend didn't have renters insurance or an emergency stack. Dealing with FEMA was a nightmare, but they finally started helping her out with food/lodging, as she had no place to stay, and nowhere to work. Her employer is back up and running. She's okay. Just had some vehicle damage during the storm which I offered to help out with (though her insurance will probably cover it,) but I'd like to help out her neighborhood if I can. Apparently her family doesn't "get it" and she's really bummed by that; no one has even offered to lend a hand or say "How can I help?"

Not to take away from the gravity of the situation but have you thought about searching out west for your cts-v? Fly out, do your good deed and drive home?

The Colorado floods hit a pretty large area, and covered both some very high income areas as well as little mountain towns. Boulder got most of the press because, well, it's Boulder. But it's the small communities higher up that really got hammered, from what I understand.

Just because there's a golf course somewhere in the nearly 2000 square miles affected doesn't mean that you'll have enough money in the bank to deal with having your house trashed.

Good for you, poopy.

poopshovel wrote: That's entirely possible. It's not an area known for flooding.

Its a town on the only downward opening of a few canyons........its going to flood. Perhaps not since our nation settled it, but I assure you it has known flooding.

I applaud you for going to help though, I really do. That is a part of society that we rarely see anymore.

FWIW

The front range had a bad flood in the 60's--- which prompted the building of the Chatsfield Reservoir. They haven't had a really bad flood since. Keep in mind, the front range got something like 18" of rain in two days. Normally they get 18" of rain a year.

Denver, and the front range are basically in a high desert. The soil is composed of rocks and clay, and doesn't absorb the water like soil in other places. When all that water comes rushing down, bad things happen. Fortunately, it doesn't happen all that often.

Lyons isn't a refuge of the rich and famous. (at least it wasn't when I lived there) It's a small little mountain town, like Idaho Springs. Most of the folks are working-class. It's nothing like Vail or Aspen.

IIRC, they'd also had a lot of rain just previous to the big storm, so the ground was saturated already. There simply wasn't anywhere for it to go.

nicksta43 wrote: Not to take away from the gravity of the situation but have you thought about searching out west for your cts-v? Fly out, do your good deed and drive home?

The thought certainly had occurred to me And thanks for the kind words, but I wasn't looking for a pat on the back or anything. I'm just more into 'hands-on' help than stroking a check with "sorry about your bad luck" on the memo line. Also haven't seen my friend in years, and she's been begging me to come out for some time.

So the Red Cross tells me:

Thank you for contacting the American Red Cross. We appreciate your kind offer. At this time, the Colorado Chapter is no longer accepting new volunteers. For other flood-related volunteer opportunities, visit www.helpcoloradonow.com.

Thank you.

American Red Cross Public Inquiry

Ok. Weird. Val assures me there's no shortage of friends who'd appreciate my offer to shovel E36 M3 though.

If you have the chance to go do it. Every time I have done it has been incredibly rewarding.

The Red Cross may currently have enough people right now because that is the first name that pops into people's minds but there will be other groups that will welcome your help. Last year after hurricane Sandy we had people from Ohio show up in a friends neighborhood and help people start ripping out their homes. When I was younger I went down south after hurricanes Hugo and Andrew with a church group and we found plenty of places to help.