This week is Colorado Severe Weather Awareness Week, in which officials remind residents about the dangers of severe weather risks such as tornadoes and flooding. Officials with the City of Boulder are focusing on flash flood risk.
The Colorado Water Conservation Board says flood-prone areas have been identified in 267 cities and towns and in all of Colorado’s 64 counties. But Boulder is the number one flash flood risk community in Colorado, due in large part to boulder canyon.
“Mainly because of the steepness of Boulder Canyon, and the nature of our thunderstorms,” says Emergency Management Coordinator for the city, Merrie Leach.
Those thunderstorms can dump large amounts of rain in short amounts of time. This year is of particular concern though, because of last fall’s Fourmile Canyon fire.
“We’re really looking carefully at the burn area because of the increased risk of that drainage and those drainage areas, all of that in Fourmile Creek drains directly into Boulder Creek,” says Leach.
The City of Boulder and its partners are working to prepare for the flood season and educate the community on how to prepare for and respond to floods. Boulder’s flood season officially begins this month and runs through September.