I grew up in Loveland, and was nine when the Big Thompson Flood of 1976 happened. 144 people died in that disaster. They held a ceremony on July 31st, 2016, at the Big Thompson Flood Memorial  to mark the 40th anniversary; and it occurred to me that I had never stopped at the memorial. So I went.

July 31, 1976. The Big Thompson Canyon area received over 12 inches of rain over just a few hours. The river in the canyon grew from flowing at just 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) to over 31,000 cfs that night, bringing destruction down the canyon.144 people died because of the amount and force of the water. A memorial was installed in 2001 to mark the 25th anniversary of the flood. 15 years after its installation, I finally went to see it.  It's about 10 minutes west of Loveland, about one mile from Drake.

I do recommend heading up there to see the memorial. The flood happened 40 years ago, but I know I will always remember.

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