May 31, 2010, marks the 75th anniversary of the Great Flood on the Republican River. On that date in 1935 rain fell in amounts totaling as much as 24 inches over some places in Eastern Colorado, Western Kansas and Southern Nebraska. Few events have shaped the land and the history of our area as the flood of 1935. The country was in the throes of the Great Depression when the year began. Dust storms raged through the Plains adding to the problems of those already doing without as they attempted to survive along the Republican River. However, in late May the rains returned to the plains. On the night of May 30, 1935, one storm system was over Nebraska, while another was over Southern Colorado. The systems merged over northeast Colorado, between where the Republican River and the Arickaree River meet, just before these streams cross the state line in to Kansas.
The storm positioned itself an area already saturated from previous rains, causing the worst flood in the area’s recorded history. Compounding the problem, the heavy rain moved east overnight, following the Republican River’s drainage area. The storm lasted until June 2, dropping an additional 2 to 7 inches of rain over the basin. This additional rainfall meant the flood crest traveling down the Republican River encountered the extremely high waters of tributary streams in southwestern Nebraska and northwestern Kansas.
The resulting floods resulted in 113 deaths and millions of dollars in losses for area residents. The force of the water easily lifted homes and barns from their foundations and twisted railroad tracks as if they were toys. All over the Republican River Valley tragic stories were recorded. In each story there were remarkable similarities in the way lives were lost, and in the heroic efforts friends and neighbors made to save others. Although warnings had gotten to some of the area, many residents would not leave their homes, believing that after living in the valley for 50 years, the flood would never reach them.
Coyote Gulch | The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land — Luna Leopold
Climate experts say that 15 inches in Boulder this week is more rain than 24 inches in one day in 1935.
