Colorado Floods

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in observation of the 1-year anniversary of the horrific floods that hit the State of Colorado 1 year ago.

Starting on September 11, floods ravaged communities and wiped away homes, schools, and businesses. The widespread damage was unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime in Colorado.

As the flooding was happening and in the immediate aftermath, I joined neighbors and leaders to survey many of the damaged areas. We worked together to make sure that we provided the much-needed relief.

In west Longmont, I saw railroad tracks ripped and tangled. I saw vehicles lying upside down and garages filled with mud. I also saw people working in the spirit of community, striving to recover, helping each other.

I couldn't possibly name all of the heroes involved in the flood response and recovery, but I would like to recognize a few:

St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District Director Sean Cronin has provided invaluable resources to water districts and ditch companies to help them provide water to communities for agriculture;

John Zadel and Stan Linker of the Central Weld County Water District worked to get water systems for small communities like Frederick and Firestone back in operation;

Local fire districts like Mountain View, Hygiene, Johnstown, and others were on the front lines of flood response.

In the year since the disaster, we have made tremendous progress, but there is a lot more work to be done. Communities in Weld, Morgan, and Logan continue their work today.

With the great resilience of the people of this State, I have no doubt we will come back stronger than ever and continue working together for the good of our great State.

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