I was glad to see the National Guard on the job.

Iv'e known a lot of Guard members that are always joking about going to summer camp to 'play Army', but when they were called they were willing to walk barefoot through Hell to get to Americans that needed help.

Damn...those pictures are horrible. I apologize for my twisted attempt at humor earlier...it's how I deal with tragedy.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Big Thompson Canyon really got hammered again. Some of these pictures are really hard to look at.

Slideshow: Hwy 34 destroyed through Big Thompson Canyon | KDVR.com

It will take a long time to rebuild that road. In the first two or three shots it appears there was some kind of dam or bridge obstructing the river and it slowed the water down so much it cut a channel to the left under the road. I don't see a road on the river right so I can't really figure out what the structure was but it certainly caused damage.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Just unfathomable.

I imagine it must be a lot like the flooding in VT after Irene with houses and parts of towns just completely washed away and cut-off from the surrounding areas.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Jimtown aftermath video

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Holy crap.

Heckflosse at the 3:30 mark.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Burt's Heckflosse was pretty much a basket case before this event... can't have helped it any...

At least his home still stands, as does his brand new garage/home behind the car. His blue house has been in the process of rebuilding since the 7' snow storm compromised the roof and exterior walls....
Might be all she wrote for that one....
Very surprised that it survived though, as the creek bed used to be 15' off his back wall, and the other side of the creek was a sheer wall about 40' high.... almost like lightning, as you never know what the heck it is going to do.
maybe the water coming through his yard saved his house.
His new building looks well intact, and 'm sure he is very pleased with the extensive work he did building up the ground next to the creek before putting in a very think (some said overkill) foundation...

Really surprised that the Post Office is gone... entirely. Used to be a solid brick and mortar building right about where the helo landing zone is now.

The house with one side missing and a wall hanging at the crazy angle (creek flowing under it's left side) was supposed to be flood-proof... all rafta block filled with concrete walls... guess if the ground underneath disappears, it makes no difference how sturdy the walls themselves are.

Haven't seen any pictures of my property yet, but it is up high and has a very deep (30+ feet) gulch on the other side of the road from it, and is not below any of the recent burn areas.
That seems to be the common denominator in the areas with the worst slide activity. Just behind Joey's (yellow house, spot of the fatality) was completely burned off about 10 years ago, same for the area above 12th street. (think there are images here of the 12th street sign standing in a debris field.

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Another, newer video

Amazing... there are a few houses in this video which one would have thought would be the first to go.... there is a brown house (which I helped build) that was no more than 2' above normal creek level, and just below the main bridge (which is now gone). I would have guessed it would have been one of the first vicims, and yet the creek seems to have split around it, and left it relatively intact.

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

No worries JP. You are not alone in that regard.
In fact, I posted to the Jimtown message board that I have a sailboat at my property which was free for use if anyone wished to take a nice sail along main street....

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif