My Memories of the Big Thompson Flood

Officers who normally reported the wildest of episodes in calm, steady voices, were yelling frantically into their radios, voices strained with frustration and fear. One of the men in the canyon reported, "I have a car out in the river with a man and kid in it. They're signaling with a flashlight. I'm gonna try to get to them."

We didn't hear anything from him for a little while. Suddenly, the frightened voice of a child broke through the other calls on the radio.

"Help me, please help! The policeman and my daddy are in the river. I can't see them."

The dispatcher said, "Is the police car up above the water?"

"Yes." She was crying. "The policeman got me here."

"O.K., honey. You stay right there. We'll look for them. Don't leave the car till somebody comes to help you. You understand?"

"O.K."

"It will take a long time, so you stay in the car."

When the crest of the flood was still about half way down the 22 mile stretch, down to the community of Drake, we were hearing about buildings and cars and trees and propane tanks and immense boulders being torn loose as the crest grew. The storm was not letting up and not moving.

At the bottom of the canyon east of the Narrows, a deputy who was warning campers out of the Riverview Campground reported, "I've got most everybody moving out of here, but there's a couple who won't go. Should I arrest them and haul them out?"

Dispatch had a new report on the location and size of the crest.

"You don't have time! Get out of there and save yourself! You've done all you can do."

Joe went in to the Office to drop me off and pick up a reserve before he headed to the canyon. I went home, turned on my scanner, and listened to the police channels all night. I've never able to really explain what that was like. The only bright spot in the whole night was that the deputy we thought was lost with the child's father was found safe. He managed to grab a tree along the bank and get out of the water without getting mangled by debris. The child's father was drowned, but she was rescued.

What I didn't know until it was all over was that my 18 year old daughter, Anna, came close to being one of the victims. She was on her way to

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