Disaster

Rocky Mountain News: Local: "The Big Thompson flood in 1976 is the deadliest natural disaster in Colorado history.

On July 31, 1976, a four-hour super storm dumped 12 inches of rain into the mountains west of Drake, beginning about 6:30 p.m.

A wall of water barreled down more than 20 miles of the Big Thompson Canyon, killing 144 people and causing $35.5 million in property damage.

By best estimates, as many as 3,000 residents and vacationers were in the canyon that Saturday night.

For many, the weekend was to stretch into Monday for a three-day celebration of the 100th anniversary of Colorado statehood.

Today, people will gather in the canyon to remember those who died in the flood."

A group of Campus Crusade Staff women, hiking during a break in their summer assignment at CSU, were among those killed. This was, to my knowledge, the deadliest disaster in CCC history.