June 5, 2012

Topic: Sign

Flood Marker Signs

I was glad about today’s photo challenge because a month ago when Chris and I visited Fort Collins I made it a point to take these pictures.

I first noticed these flood marker signs last summer when we took the family up to Fort Collins for the weekend. We happened to be on a bike ride along this creek when we were delighted to have spotted them! It was actually the first time I had reason to remember the flood of 1997 and was amazed when I realized how high the water had actually been!

It was on this last trip in May, then, that I requested we make a stop so I could photograph, this-the flood marker sign, that I find so fascinating. I just wanted to have my own documentation of it for some special occasion. Not knowing it would come in the form of a blog post for a photo of the day challenge!

I remember the flood. Chris and I still lived up there and I remember it raining non-stop for something like five days straight. We sat on the floor of his house by the front windows and just watched it come down. There was a drainage canal in between Chris’s house and the one next door and we were surprised that the water didn’t actually rise above it and flood us out. It was amazing to watch. Water, at a depth of 5 to 7  feet, racing through the neighborhood with nothing to stop it but a chain link fence-so, yeah, nothing to stop it.

I love how the city of Fort Collins put these flood marker signs up at the areas of town where the water was at it’s highest. It was a significant event in the city’s history. It wasn’t fun at the time and I’m grateful for the zero damage that was had by us and our families, but I know it was worse for other folks in town. This was the kind of flood that brought the motor boats out to cruise down College Avenue!

I’m one of those suckers that loves to be able to say, I was there when…Well, this here was a perfect chance for me to do that!