The full toll from Colorado’s floods won’t be known for months but for one local Denver area non-profit, the devastation of the waters hit home – nine of them in fact.
The flood waters from Colorado’s floods have destroyed homes and taken lives. In one case, nine homes crucial to serving the needs of the most vulnerable among us were part of the toll.
By the numbers, the rainfall experienced across northeastern Colorado since Monday, September 9 has been nothing short of extraordinary. Over the span of a week, many locations received half of what they normally receive in an entire year. Some received more than what they expect annually.
We have created and interactive map (below) that shows precipitation totals from Monday, September 9, 2013 to Monday, September 16, 2013. The numbers are totals as reported by CoCoRaHS volunteers – the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network.
Looking at the map, it is clear that the Boulder area received the most with one station recording an astonishing 21.13” over the 7 day timespan. The official station in Boulder has recorded 16.69” inches this month and 29.65” for the year. These numbers break Boulder’s monthly record and its annual precipitation record.
Denver’s official station at Denver International Airport (DIA) has recorded 4.65 inches this month, enough to put September 2013 in the books as the 2nd wettest on record. However, that total hardly reflects what locations closer to the city’s center received with many recording over 7” this month.
Here in Thornton we have seen 8.85” of rain so far this month, an extraordinary total that brings our total for 2013 to 18.81”. This is clearly the biggest month and year for precipitation since ThorntonWeather.com came online in 2007 and likely the biggest month ever in Thornton.
If you have a hard time viewing the map in the window below, click here to launch a larger version.
Australia and Brazil have both been besieged by heavy rains and flooding in recent weeks. While Australia’s damage was more widespread, the death toll in Brazil has been far more severe.
At latest count at least 809 people have been killed in the flooding in areas just north of Rio de Janeiro. 389 are reported dead from the floods and mudslides in Nova Friburgo and 324 in Teresolis. With at least 200 people missing the toll may eventually exceed 1,000.
More than 20,000 people have been forced out of their homes as flash floods and mud rushed through the Serrana region and the Brazilian government is being heavily criticized for its lax oversight of construction standards. The lack of a proper weather warning system and civil defense plan have also been highlighted by the calamity.
Many within the country and in the international community are questioning the ability of Brazil to play host to the World Cup and the Olympics later this decade. Brazilian daily newspaper Estado de S. Paulo wrote, “A look at public policy … or the lack thereof … reveals a long chain of unpreparedness, administrative incompetence, technical incapacity, and political irresponsibility.”
The recent deaths far surpass Brazil’s previous worst natural disaster. That event, a flood in the state of Sao Paulo in 1967, claimed 436 lives.
For complete coverage of all types of natural disasters, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.