Fort Collins Flood 1997: Comprehensive View of an Extreme Event

摘要

The July 1997 flood in Fort Collins was caused by the heaviest rains ever documented over an urbanized area in Colorado, and offers a data base and multifaceted set of lessons about flood planning, miti- gation, response, and recovery for engineers, flood managers, and urban officials. The storm dropped 10 to 14 inches in 31 hours and some peak discharges greatly exceeded projected 100-year and 500-year flows. Five people died, 54 were injured, about 200 homes were lost, and 1,500 homes and businesses were damaged. Damages at Colorado State University were about ＄1OO,000,000, including catastrophic losses to the library. The paper summarizes the flood experience and provides lessons in five categories: urban drainage and flood control, risk management, mitigation, flood response, and public involvement.