It has been almost eight months since the Great Flood of 2013 and still the repairs go on, and they will for some time yet. If you have driven Highway 36 between Lyons and Estes Park recently, you’ll know what I mean–they are doing some major blasting and moving of the road to make it less prone to flood damage in the future…and many folks in the flood plain just above Lyons still have not recovered (homes destroyed and their land now a field of head-sized boulders).
I’ll try to post some images of this area sometime in the future.
Around here, Lyons probably got the lion’s share of press (so to speak) just after the flood, but there was another area that was hit pretty hard that didn’t seem to get the headlines: Fourmile Canyon, just above Boulder. Those folks have endured something like three major fires and now a once-in-a-lifetime (if we are lucky) flood during the last three to five years. It says a lot about the grit of those mountain people that many are rebuilding and staying put…although I have seen a few “For Sale” signs sprinkled here and there.
When photographing these areas, be sensitive. What these folks have gone through, who really knows and a little empathy goes a long way. Don’t trespass. Engage the residents in conversation and listen to their stories–as my Arizona friend and fellow photographer, Jim Dublinski, did on this day.
May the following years be a bit more tranquil for those affected.
Some images of the area:
Flood Aftermath, #2 (Debris). Fourmile Canyon, Colorado, 2014
Flood Aftermath, #1 (Rebuilding). Fourmile Canyon, Colorado, 2014
Flood Aftermath, #3 (A very close call). Fourmile Canyon, Colorado, 2014
Flood Aftermath, #4 (The arbitrariness of it all). Fourmile Canyon, Colorado, 2014
Rural Mailbox (A survivor). Fourmile Canyon, Colorado, 2014
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