"That doesn't look good. That's got to be the blackest cloud I've ever seen. I'll bet they're catchin' it in Estes Park."
It's pretty common to have afternoon and evening thundershowers in the mountains, but Joe was right--this looked different. The sky was stormy all along the mountains, but just over the Estes Park area it was ominously black. We watched it for a little while and then, a bit before 7 p.m., the radio started crackling with warnings of flash flooding in the Big Thompson Canyon and calls for officers to respond.
The calls escalated quickly, as the dispatcher ordered deputies to warn residents and campers to get to high ground. The Big Thompson River is normally a beautiful, clear stream, between 30 and 50 feet across in the canyon this time of year, but it was swelling rapidly as torrents of rain fell from a storm that stalled just below Estes Park.
As the chaos on the radio increased we drove around, stunned by what we were hearing. All available units were ordered to the canyon. For a moment I thought we were going to the scene, but then Dispatch said, "Charlie 3, I need you to stay north of town. The Poudre River may be catching some of this storm and we might have to evacuate over there. I need at least one car to take emergencies and you're it.
By 8 p.m. they called in all the reserve officers to meet at the Sheriff's Office. "We're doubling up all cars. Nobody goes home tonight."
