Flood Recovery Continues, But Deep Scars Remain
(CBS4) - The main roads might be back, but it's a different story on the side streets.
In the disaster zone left behind after the September 2013 flood, there are still numerous side roads and rural driveways that need to be repaired.
When heavy rains fell over the Front Range foothills, the water traveled by any means necessary to make it to lower elevations, where it eventually met the South Platte River.
The floodplain in Lyons still bears a visible scar where the water on St. Vrain Creek exceeded its banks. To this day, sediment still covers the ground on either side of the channel.
In Estes Park, while most major roads have been repaired, when you get onto some of the bike paths, you can still see signs of the water's force.
Highway 34 has been repaired through Big Thompson Canyon, but there are still deep scars on many of the hillsides, where rushing water stripped away the earth.
East of the foothills on the northeast plains, a trailer park still sits in ruins in the town of Evans, as the former residents still struggle to rebuild their lives.
The South Platte River's meandering shape swelled into one giant lake that stretched for over 100 miles, from just northeast of Denver, well into the state of Nebraska.
In all, 10 major rivers and creeks were impacted by the late summer 2013 flood.
From Bear Creek in Evergreen to the Poudre River in Fort Collins, even Fountain Creek near Colorado Springs unleashed a devastating flash flood as runoff from days of heavy rain flowed east.
The long road to recovery continues, and while with each passing day we see more and more in the way of recovery, there will always be deep scars on the land that will forever remind of us that historic event.
