Larimer County flood survivor: 'When they say flash flood, take it seriously'
Kirk Hawks had sent his wife and two boys off to a family reunion in Estes Park late Friday afternoon when it started raining at his home in the Buckhorn Canyon west of Fort Collins.
Having experienced multiple floods in his years living in the canyon, he knew as hard as the rain was pounding down that another flood was imminent.
Unfortunately his intuition was right
"I went into the garage to get the bolt cutters to cut the fences because when debris hits the fences it blows them down,'' he said sitting on a mini-bike with mud boots on at the intersection of Buckhorn Road and Larimer County Road 27 on Saturday morning. "In the 30 seconds it took me to do that, it was too dangerous to even attempt. When they say flash flood, take it seriously. It happens so fast.''
A brief downpour upstream of Hawks quickly inundated little Buckhorn Creek around 5 p.m. and sent muddy flood waters down the canyon.
Frank Cooper, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder, said a gauge 3 to 4 miles northwest of Crystal Mountain received .91 inches of rain with .67 inches of that coming from 5 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. He said radar estimated higher amounts of rain in the area that includes the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar.
Hawks said the flood "got the front part of our yard like it usually does'' and left so much debris under his pickup it high-centered and neighbors had to help him get it unstuck. It drove a culvert he estimated at 6 feet around and 30 to 40 feet long lodged under his bridge.
"Thankfully, it didn’t get the house this time,'' he said.
The flood also killed two people and destroyed a house. As of Friday night, there were no other injuries or damage to houses reported, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
"I didn’t sleep well last night thinking of those two ladies in the camper,'' Hawks said, noting more rain around midnight added to his worries. "I can’t imagine what that must have been like. My prayers are with the family of those two ladies.''
The Larimer County Office of Emergency Management worked on assessing the damage to Buckhorn Road on Saturday morning. A helicopter that appeared to be assessing the damage circled overhead as dump trucks entered and exited Buckhorn Road closed at its intersection with Larimer County Road 27.
Hawks said he had planned to ride his bike to Estes Park to join the family reunion but instead was left cleaning up piles of debris and fixing fences Saturday. Despite the floods and fires, including the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, that have plagued the narrow canyon about 20 miles west of Fort Collins, Hawks said he's here to stay.
"The first 10 years here were idyllic and the last 10 years we had, what, three floods and four fires and evacuations we have had to deal with,'' he said. " But I guess I’m stubborn. I don’t think I could live in town.
"If you live in the mountains, you have to have a safety plan ahead of time and be prepared. Now we just need to figure out how to mitigate another one.''
Buckhorn Canyon flooding updates: Dangerous floodwaters hit west of Fort Collins
Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Buckhorn Canyon flooding: When they say flash flood, take it seriously"
