Town Washed-Out by Flood-Rains, Comes Together As a Survival Community

[NHCraigT]

September 2014 News Article = LINK: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2...sidents-thrive-they-survive-flooded-isolation

....By midmorning Sept. 12, only hours after apocalyptic floods had dissolved the highway and scraped away bridges, about 150 residents forged a survival plan. They elected a mayor and appointed a head of security. Others took over directing supply chains, labor and building roads. They held daily meetings to wade through the rampant rumors, going door to door, surveying residents....

..... "This is pretty awesome," Lt. Col. Chung Tran, a National Guard transportation engineer, said as he inspected the smooth, if short-lived, road Sunday after it closed. "Look at what people can do when they come together."
Another crew hewed a path along the granite wall that once anchored U.S. 36. Last weekend, hundreds of evacuees on foot, bikes and ATVs followed the narrow trail back home to gather what possessions they could.

"These are some amazing people up here," said Derek Hatcher, as he and his friend Jessica Bohannon lugged a duffel of essentials along the unlikely trail. "This was a chance to be challenged, and these folks up here rose to the occasion."....

....In the past week, he has directed the construction of trails connecting isolated homes to his community. He also taped a sign to his front door: "Still here. Still armed."
"If you are a rule follower, you left. Those who remained aren't necessarily big on doing what they are told," Payne said. "It's important for some people to stay in these communities. Otherwise nothing would get done.".....

 

[ToddDubya]

How long can they sustain living disconnected (or barely connected) to things like groceries and medical help? I admire their willingness to take care of themselves, but I wonder how long it'll be before they decide enough is enough. I mean, this is CO so someone is going to have to keep riding into town making weed and booze runs. That's gonna get old fast.

On the flip side, I wonder how long their homes would have gone unlooted if everyone left.

ETA: I was out in CO a few years ago after some serious flooding and it amazed me how crazy those rivers can get. There was a bike path along the highway under 20-30' of water. They said it was built knowing it would probably flood every year.

 

[Palladin]

classic

 

[PaulR]

Great article. Good for them. Good to see there are people out there that can actually help themselves.

 

[enbloc]

.