Event narrative (NOAA)
A flash flood killed 5 women and injured 40 others when a 10-15 foot wall of water surged through 2 mobile home parks. Over 8 inches of rainfall was measured in southwest Fort Collins during the evening hours as a series of storms developed, dumping heavy rain over the same area. The disaster occurred when debris apparently blocked a culvert beneath the railroad tracks adjacent to the park which flowed into Spring Creek. The normally small creek became a torrent when the dammed water jumped the railroad tracks. The highwater also derailed 4 railroad cars, compounding the catastrophe. The wall of water swept through the mobile home park destroying 108 homes and damaging 481 others, 86 severely. Four women were killed while attempting to evacuate there homes and flee the floodwaters.
Other notable flash flood events in Colorado
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.