FEMA Identifies High Flood Risk in Denver and Front Range Counties
Having just completed a five-year project to examine and map Colorado's flood risks on a county-by-county basis, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has identified seven Front-Range counties, including Denver and four other metro Denver counties, as being high-risk flood zones.
The counties identified as hot spots for floods are:
Adams
Arapahoe
Boulder
Denver
El Paso
Jefferson
Larimer
While FEMA's ranking does not mean that flooding is imminent, it does mean that there are large numbers of people living along waterways and in flood plains. It may also mean higher flood insurance rates, along with increased building restrictions.
"It's not something people should be alarmed about," said Kevin Houck, a state engineer working with FEMA on its flood-mapping and analysis project, "but it's really good information to have. It's easy to forget in Colorado that floods do happen."Part of the project involved determining the safety and adequacy of levees, dikes, and dams, and two were identified as needing immediate repair: one near Creede and one just outside Granada.
"People need to know whether they are in a flood plain," said Nancy Steinberger, a regional hydraulic engineer for FEMA who is overseeing the mapping and assessment work in Colorado. "They also need to see the nearest place where they could evacuate and where the nearest high ground is, in case streets are flooded."
Houck reminds Coloradans that the flood risk in Colorado is no worse now than it was several years ago, but views FEMA's analysis as a risk identification tool to help communities be better prepared.
