Event narrative (NOAA)
Monsoon moisture continued over the area with thunderstorms drenching the Pawnee National Grasslands, north of Stoneham, with 6 to 8 inches of rainfall. Runoff from the storms eventually turned Pawnee Creek into a huge river. The wall of water, 12 feet high and 200 feet wide made its way downstream flooding the towns of Sterling and Atwood in western Logan County. Highway bridges were washed out, trees uprooted and a portion of Burlington Northern track ripped out. In addition, a 100-ton culvert was torn away and carried downstream approximately 50 feet. In Logan County, 1000 homes and 200 businesses were impacted by the floodwaters as scores of families were evacuated. Some homes in the towns of Sterling and Atwood were under 8 feet of water. At least 13,700 acres of cropland was d
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.